t LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. ' 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.; 



SERMONS 

ON THE 

TEN COMMANDMENTS. 



BY THE 

REV. 0. PRESCOTT HILLER, 

MINISTER OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH, CROSS STREET, HATTON GARDEN, 
LONDON. 




Cy> BOSTON: 
T. H. CARTER AND SONS, 

25 Bromfield Street. 

1868. 



,H5" 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by 
T. H. Carter & Sons, 
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 



CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY H. 0. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY. 



PREFATORY NOTE. 



The numbering of the Commandments will be found 
different, in the present volume, from that in common 
use in the English and American Churches. What 
are commonly reckoned as the first two Command- 
ments, are here counted as one. Consequently, what 
is usually considered the third Commandment, is here 
numbered as the second, — the fourth as the third, 
and so on. This is the mode of division adopted in 
the Lutheran Church, and which has been followed 
by Swedenborg. 



CONTENTS. 



SERMON L 

Page 

The Ten Commandments : General View, . . 7 

SERMON IL 

The First Commandment: Thou shalt not have 

other gods, , 19 

SERMON III. 
The First Commandment: Spiritual Sense, . . 32 

SERMON IV. 

The Second Commandment : Not to take God's 

Name in Vain, ^ 46 

SERMON V. 

The Third Commandment : Holiness or the 

Sabbath, . . . ... . . 58 

SERMON VI. 

The Third Commandment: Observance oe the 

Sabeath, 71 



0 



CONTENTS. 



SEEM ON VII. 

Page 



The Fourth Commandment : Honor thy Father 

and thy Mother, . . . . „ 83 

SERMON VIII 
The Fieth Commandment: Thou shalt not Kill, 96 

SERMON IX. 

The Sixth Commandment : Thotj shalt not Commit 

Adultery, . . . . . . . 110 

SERMON X. 

The Seventh Commandment : Thou shalt not 

Steal 123 

SERMON XI. 

The Eighth Commandment : Thou shalt not bear 

False Witness, . . . . . .136 

. SERMON XII. 

The Ninth and Tenth Commandments : Thou 

shalt not covet, 149 

* 



SERMON I 



THE TEN COMMANDMENTS : GENERAL VIEW. 1 

"And God spake all these words."— Exodus xx. 1. 

"The Ten Commandments," says the Doctrine of the 
New Church, "were the first of the Word; for they 
were promulgated from Mount Sinai before the Word 
was written by Moses and the Prophets." 

•And with what solemnity and sublimity were they 
uttered — and by the very voice of Jehovah Himself ! 
How grand is the description of the scene ! " And 
* the Lord said to Moses, Go to the people, and sanctify 
them to-day and to-morrow, and be ready against the 
third day; for on the third day the Lord will come 
down in the sight of all the people upon Mount 
Sinai. — And it came to pass on the third day, in the 
morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, 
and a thick cloud upon the mountain, and the voice 
of a trumpet exceeding loud, so that all the people 
in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the 
people out of the camp to meet with God ; and they 
stood on the lower part of the mountain. And Mount 
Sinai was altogether on a smokt, because the Lord 
descended upon it in fire; and the smoke thereof went 
up as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain 



8 



THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 



quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet 
sounded long, and grew louder and louder, Moses 
spoke, and God answered him by a voice."* 

And why were these CommaDclments proclaimed 
amidst such awful solemnities ? The • Doctrine of the 
New Church states the reason, in the following words : 
" There is not a nation in the whole world, which does 
not know that it is evil to kill, to commit adultery, to 
steal, to testify falsely, and also that unless these evils 
were guarded against by laws, no kingdom, republic, 
or any established society whatever, could exist. 
"Who, then, can suppose that the Israelitish nation 
was so much more stupid than others, as not to know 
that those things were evils. It may, then, be won- 
dered at, that these laws, so universally known, 
should be promulgated in so miraculous a manner 
from Mount Sinai by J ehovah himself. But this was 
the reason that they were thus miraculously promul- 
gated, namely, that it might be known, that those 
laws were not only civil and moral laws, but also 
Divine laws; and that to act contrary to them, was 
not only to do evil to the neighbor, that is, to one's 
fellow-citizens and to society, but that it was also to 
sin ayainst God. "Wherefore, those laws, by promulga- 
tion from Mount Sinai by Jehovah, were made also laws 
of religion. For whatever Jehovah commands, he com- 
mands in order that it may be a part of religion, and 
thus that it may be done for the sake of salvation. "t 

This point is a *tevy important one, and needs to 

* Exodus xix. 10, 11, 16—19. 
t True Christian Beligion, n. 282. 



THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 



9 



be somewhat more fully explained. It is to be "under- 
stood, that the end in view gives character to all the 
thoughts and acts, because the end which man has 
before his mind, is the inmost principle with him. 
Now, when a man does anything merely for the 
purpose of advancing himself in the world, then, as to 
that action, self and the world are his inmost prin- 
ciples and ends, and consequently such act is a merely 
selfish one, however good it may appear. So, when, 
in refraining from any evil action, his end is merely to 
avoid civil and social penalties, such as punishment for 
violation of law, or the loss of character and standing 
in society, then, his ends being merely natural and 
worldly, such refraining does not make the man 
spiritual, nor is he any better at heart; he only 
appears better before the world. The stream cannot 
rise higher than the fountain: his end being merely 
natural and external, the good which he does is 
merely natural, not spiritual; and in such case, either 
doing good or refraining from evil has no effect on the 
interiors of his spirit, — and contributes nothing to his 
salvation. But when, in doing good or in refraining 
from evil, a man thinks of God and heaven,— when he 
refrains from an evil act because it is a sin against 
God, when he strives to do what is right because God 
commands it, and because that is the path that leads 
to heaven, then, by every such act, his spirit is brought 
into communication with heaven, and is conjoined 
with the Lord; and thus he becomes inwardly purified 
from evil, and filled with good, and so is regenerated 
and saved. 



10 



THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 



Under the light of this view, we can now see why 
the Commandments were proclaimed with so much 
solemnity by God himself from Mount Sinai. It was 
in order to make them laws of religion, and not 
merely moral and civil laws. It was, that not only 
the Israelites, but all mankind after them, who should 
read these commandments, might, when they kept 
them, think of God and heaven, and not merely of 
the world; — that, when they refrained from killing or 
stealing, or bearing false witness, or committing adul- 
tery, they might do so, not merely because it was 
opposed to the laws of the land or of civil society, but 
because it was forbidden by the law of God : and that, 
refraining with this end in view, their spirits might 
be conjoined with the Lord and heaven. This was 
the great reason for that sublime enunciation of those 
Commandments from Mount Sinai. 

It was for a similar reason that the law of the Ten 
Commandments was called a Covenant. Covenant, in 
the spiritual sense, signifies conjunction ; for when it 
is said that two persons make a covenant together, it 
means that they make an agreement in regard to some 
act or thing, and so far as both parties are faithful to 
the agreement, their minds are in a kind of con- 
junction. Now, the law of the Divine commandments 
is a covenant between God and man; a covenant, in 
which God promises, expressly or impliedly, that if 
man will do what is there commanded, and refrain 
from doing what is there forbidden, he shall be gifted 
with eternal life and its blessedness. And if man 
keep his part of the Covenant, the Lord will assuredly 



THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 



11 



keep His : for, in fact, by a law of the mind, this 
result will certainly follow. "When man, in keeping 
the commandments of the Decalogue, thinks of the 
Lord and heaven, — by such thought and act, his 
mind (as before explained) becomes conjoined to the 
Lord and brought into communication with heaven*; 
and then heavenly life flows down from the Lord into 
his mind; and siich life is heaven in the soul, and 
after death it will expand into all the beauties and 
glories of heaven itself. Thus keeping the command- 
ments effects conjunction with the Lord, and con- 
junction with the Lord is heaven and salvation. 

We may now see why the two tables on which the 
commandments were inscribed were called the " tables 
* of the covenant," why the ark in which they were 
deposited was called the " ark of the covenant," and 
why, indeed, the whole Word of the Lord is called " the 
Old and New Covenant," namely, because the Ten 
Commandments and, indeed, the whole Word, when 
obeyed, becomes the means of conjunction with the 
Lord. 

The next point to be considered, is the holiness of the 
Ten Commandments. On this point, the Doctrine of 
the New Church thus speaks : — " The Commandments 
of the Decalogue, because they were the first-fruits of 
the Word, and thence the first-fruits of the Church 
about to be instituted with the Israelitish nation, and 
because they were, in a summary, a collection of all 
things of religion, by which conjunction of God with 
man and of man with God is effected, therefore they 
were so holy, that nothing is holier. That they were 



THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 



most holy, is evident from the following considerations: 
That the Lord Jehovah himself descended upon Mount 
Sinai in fire, and with angels, and thence promulgated 
them with a living voice, and that the mountain was 
hedged around, lest any should draw near and die: that 
those commandments were written upon two tables of 
stone by the finger of God : that when Moses brought 
down those tables the second time, his face shone : 
that the tables were afterwards laid up in the ark, and 
this in the inmost part of the tabernacle, and over 
it was set the propitiatory, and upon this were placed 
cherubs of gold; and that this inmost sanctuary of the 
tabernacle was called the holy of holies. — On account 
of the holiness of the tabernacle (which holiness was 
all derived from the law in the ark), all the Israelitish 
people by command encamped around it in order, 
according to their tribes, and marched in order after 
it j and then a cloud was over it by day, and a fire by 
night. On account of the holiness of that law, and the 
presence of Jehovah in it, Jehovah spoke with Moses 
over the propitiatory between the cherubs, and the ark 
was called Jehovah there. On 'account of the presence 
of Jehovah in that law and around it, miracles, also, 
were done by the ark in which the law was ; as that 
the waters of the Jordan were divided ; and while it 
rested in the midst, the people passed over on dry 
ground ; that by its being carried round J ericho, the 
walls of that city fell down ; that Dagon, the god of 
the Philistines, fell on his face before it; that, on 
account of its presence, the Bethshemites were smitten, 
to the number of several thousands ; that Uzzah died 



THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 13 

because he touched it : that this ark, moreover, was 
introduced by David into Zion, with sacrifices and 
rejoicings, and afterwards by Solomon into the temple 
at Jerusalem, where it was deposited in its sacred 
recess. From all which things it is manifest that 
the Decalogue, in the Israelitish church, was holiness 
itself." " So great holiness and so great power were in 
that law, because it was a summary of all things of 
religion. For it was written on two tables, one of 
which contains, in a summary, all things which 
relate to God, and the other all that relate to man. 
Hence the Commandments of that law are called the 
Ten Words. They were so called, because the num- 
ber ten signifies all, and words signify truths." * 

" The Decalogue," continues the Doctrine of the New 
Church, " contains, in its literal sense, the general 
precepts of doctrine and life ; but in its spiritual and 
celestial senses it contains all precepts universally. 
The Decalogue is called, by way of eminence, the Law, 
because it contains all things of doctrine and life, for 
it contains not only all things that refer to God, but 
also all that refer to man; wherefore, as before said, 
that law was written upon two tables, one of which 
treats of God, the other of man. It is known that all 
things of doctrine and life have reference to love to 
God and love towards the neighbor. That the whole 
"Word teaches nothing else, is plain from these words 
of the Lord : 'Jesus said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy 
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with 
all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself : on these 
* T. a B., n. 283, 2SG. 



14 



THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 



two commandments hang the law and the prophets.' 
The ' law and the prophets ' signify the whole Word. 
"Now, since love to God and love towards the neighbor 
are all things of the "Word, and since the Decalogue, in 
the first table, contains in a summary all things of love 
to God, and in the second table all things of love towards 
the neighbor, it follows that it contains all things 
that pertain to doctrine and life." * 

So extensive is the meaning of the Ten Command- 
ments, when viewed in their whole scope, and in all 
their three senses, the natural, the spiritual, and the 
celestial. " The Word," says the New Church Doc- 
trine, "contains, in every Part, besides the literal 
sense, two interior senses, one • of which is called 
spiritual, and the other celestial: in these senses, 
Divine truth is in its light, and Divine goodness is in 
its heat. No one, unless he knows what the Word is, 
can conceive that there is infinity in every part of it ; 
that is, that it contains innumerable things, which not 
even the angels can exhaust. Every thing there may 
be likened to a seed, which may grow up from the 
ground into a great tree, and then may produce in- 
numerable seeds, from which again may proceed 
similar trees, and from these a garden; and from the 
seeds of this, other gardens; and so on, to infinity. 
Such is the Word of the Lord in every part, and 
especially in the Decalogue; for this, because it 
teaches love to God and love towards the neighbor, 
is a short summary of the whole Word. That there 
is such an infinity of spiritual seeds or truths in the 
* T. C. R, n. 287. 



THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 



15 



Word, is evident from the wisdom of the angels, 
which is all from the Word. This increases with 
them to eternity ; and the wiser they become, the 
more clearly do they see that wisdom is without end, 
and that they themselves are only in the entrance to 
it, and that they cannot, in the least degree, attain to 
the Divine wisdom of the Lord, which they ca]l an 
abyss. And, since the Word is from this abyss, be- 
cause from the Lord, it is manifest that in all parts of 
it there is a kind of infinity." * 

These passages give us a new and most exalted view 
of the Divine Word in general, and of the Decalogue 
in particular. And such a view is greatly needed 
at this day, when so many, in their ignorance, are 
doubting or even denying the holiness of the Bible, 
and its Divine inspiration. But from the view thus 
presented by the Doctrines of the New Church, we 
perceive how vast, how deep, how inexhaustible is the 
truth contained in the Word of the Lord; and with 
this thought in our minds, we shall repair to its pages 
with new trust, and new interest and delight. 

But now, in conclusion, let us note one striking 
feature in these Commandments. It will be observed 
that they are nearly all expressed in the negative 
form, thus: — "Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not 
steal, Thou shalt not commit adultery." It is not 
said what we are to do, but only what we are not to 
do. This peculiarity is founded on a great law of 
Divine order, which is, that in proportion as man 
shuns evils as sins, good flows in from the Lord, and 
* T. C. K, n. 289, 290. 



10 



THE TEN COlIMANDilEXTS. 



takes the place of the evil, and thus man is inwardly 
purified. " It is known," says the New Church Doc- 
trine, "that man's interiors must be purified, before 
the good which he does can be truly good; for says 
the Lord, 'Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the 
inside of the cup and platter, that the outside may be 
clean also.'* The interior of man is not otherwise 
purified than as he desists from evils according to the 
precepts of the Decalogue. Those evils, so long as he 
does uot desist from them, and flee from, and become 
averse to them, as sins, constitute his interior man, 
and are as an interposed veil or covering, appearing 
in heaven as an eclipse, whereby the sun of heaven is 
obscured and its light intercepted; and are also as a 
fountain of black and pitchy waters, from which 
nothing but what is impure can possibly flow. What 
flows from it, though it may appear before the world 
as good, still is not good, because defiled by evils from 
within. Now, since evils must be removed before 
good works can be truly good, therefore the Ten Com- 
mandments were given as the first of the Word, for 
they were promulgated from Mount Sinai before the 
Word was written by Moses and the prophets; and in 
those Commandments were not declared good works 
which are to be done, but rather evils which are to 
be shunned. Hence, also, those Commandments are 
taught in the churches as the first religious instruc- 
tions; for they are taught to boys and girls, in order 
that man may commence his Christian life from them, 
and by no means forget them as he grows up."t 
*Matt. xxiii. 26. f Apocalypse Explained, n. 939. 



THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 



17 



We here learn the great spiritual law, on account of 
which the Commandments are expressed for the most 
part in the negative form, namely, that the first thing 
of religion is for man to shun evils as sins. Till he 
does this, all the good he may do, is inwardly not 
good, for he does it only for the sake of himself and 
ihd world. No man can do good which is truly 
spiritual and heavenly, except from the Lord ; and such 
good cannot flow in from the Lord, so long as the 
interior mind is full of evils, as every man's is by 
nature. The first thing, then, to be done is to have 
those evils removed; and this is effected in propor- 
tion as man refrains from doing them ; that is, in pro- 
portion as he resists and struggles against those evils, 
when they strive to come forth into act. " So far," says 
the New Church Doctrine, " as evils are removed as 
sins, so far good affections flow in, and man afterwards 
does good not for himself, but for the Lord. As, 

" First : So far as he does not worship other gods, 
that is, so far as he does not love himself and the 
world above all things, so far the acknowledgment of 
God flows in. 

"Secondly: So far as he does not profane the name 
of God, that is, so far as he shuns the cupidities arising 
from the love of self and the world, so far he loves the 
holy things of the "Word and the Church, for these are 
the name of God. 

" Thirdly : So far as he avoids thefts, thus also 
frauds and unlawful gains, so far sincerity and justice 
enter, and he acts sincerely and justly, not for himself, 
but for the Lord. 



18 



THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 



" Fourthly : So far as lie shuns adulteries, thus also 
unchaste and filthy thoughts, so far conjugial love 
enters, which is the inmost love of heaven, in which 
chastity itself resides. 

" Fifthly : So far as he shuns murders, thus also 
deadly hatred and revenge, which breathe murder, so 
far the Lord flows in with mercy and love. 

"Sixthly: So far as he shuns false witness, thus also 
lies and blasphemies, so far the spirit of truthfulness 
or veracity flows in from the Lord. 

" Seventhly : So far as he shuns the concupiscence of 
possessing the houses of others, thus also the love and 
cupidities thence derived of possessing the goods of 
others, so far charity towards the neighbor flows in 
from the Lord. 

"Eighthly: So far as he shuns the concupiscence of pos- 
sessing the wife, servant, &c, of others, that is, the love 
of ruling over others, so far love to the Lord flows in. 

" In these eight commandments are contained evils 
which are to be shunned ; in the other two, the third 
and fourth, are contained some things which are to 
be done, namely, that the Sabbath is to be kept holy, 
and that parents are to be honored."* 

From the summary view here presented of the sub- 
stance of the Ten Commandments, we. may derive 
much instruction; which knowledge will be made more 
full and clear, as we learn the meaning of each of 
those Commandments separately, in all their senses, 
the natural, spiritual, and celestial. This meaning we 
shall endeavor to set forth in the following discourses. 
* Ap. Ex., n. 949. 



SERMON II. 



THE FIRST COMMANDMENT : THOU SHALT NOT HAVE 
OTHER GODS. 

"I am Jehovah thy God, who brought thee forth out of the 
land of Egypt, out of the house of servants. Thou shalt not have . 
other gods before my face." — Exodus xx. 2, 3. 

The general meaning of this Commandment in its 
literal sense, is obvious: it forbids the worship of 
idols. It is to be remembered that at the time this 
Commandment was given to the Israelites, the whole 
known world was filled with idolatry. Every nation 
had its gods, to which it bowed down in worship. 
That the Israelites themselves were inclined to such 
worship, is evident from the fact that, within a month 
after this Commandment had been proclaimed from 
Mount Sinai, they made to themselves a golden calf 
and worshiped it. This custom they had learned in 
Egypt, where calves were worshiped. * And at various 
other periods of their history, afterwards, there were 
introduced, under their kings, the idols of the nations 
around them, and these were made objects of worship. 

The effect of idolatry was, to separate the mind from 
conjunction with the Divine Being, and to bind it 
down to merely natural and material things. Whether 



20 



THE FIRST COMMANDMENT: 



the idol was an image, the work of men's hands, or 
any created thing, as the sun, moon, and stars, or a 
human being (for men, both dead and living, were 
made objects of worship), the effect was to draw away 
the spirit from conjunction with God and heaven, and 
thus to extinguish all spiritual light in the mind, and 
to render it grossly natural. 

All spirituality in the mind is attained by con- 
junction with God; for when the mind is in such 
conjunction, it is open towards God and towards 
heaven, and thence spiritual light flows in and en- 
lightens the understanding, and spiritual heat, or love, 
flows in and warms and elevates the will. Now, con- 
junction is effected by means of thought and love. 
When the thought is fixed upon the Divine Being in 
reverence and worship, the understanding is thereby 
opened to his influx ; and when, moreover, the heart 
is filled with love towards him, not only evinced by 
feelings of gratitude and trust, but, still more, by the 
endeavor to please him and do his commandments; 
then the heart or will is opened to the influx of love — 
the love of what is good and true and heavenly. And 
thus man is regenerated and prepared for heaven. 

But now, if instead, of thus worshiping the true 
God, the one Divine Creator, the only Source of love, 
and light, and happiness, — there is worshiped a life- 
less image, or the dead sun and moon, or a mere man 
like ourselves, then the thought rises no higher than 
these things : the mind cannot rise high'er than the 
object at which it looks; and as this, in such case, 
is merely natural and material, the mind remains in 



THOU SHALT NOT HAVE OTHER GODS. 21 

merely natural light, and consequently, instead of be- 
coming spiritual, continues gross, earthly, and sensual. 
Such may be supposed to be the effect of the worship 
of idols. Nay more : — when, as in ancient times, de- 
ceased men were worshiped, — men who, many of 
them, when on earth, were proud and wicked, such as 
conquerors and others, and who consequently, after 
death, became infernal spirits, — then, the worship of 
them, that is the fixing of the thought and heart upon 
them, would have the effect of producing a kind of 
conjunction with them, and thus open an influx from 
hell instead of heaven. Hence, idolatry of this kind 
is called in Scripture "worship of devils,"* and sacri- 
fice offered to such beings is called "sacrificing to 
devils." Thus, speaking of the Israelites, when gone 
astray into idolatry, it is said, "They provoked Him 
to jealousy with strange - gods; with abominations 
provoked they him to anger. They sacrificed unto 
devils, not to God."t And again, it is written in 
Leviticus : " This is the thing which the Lord hath 
commanded, saying, What man soever there be of the 
house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat, 
and bringeth it not to the door of the tabernacle of 
the congregation, to offer "an- offering unto the Lord 
before the tabernacle of the Lord, blood shall be 
imputed to that man ; he hath shed bloodj and that 
man shall be cut off from among his people. To the . 
end that the children of Israel may bring their sacri- 
fices unto the Lord. And they shall no more offer 
their sacrifices unto devils." J So, the Apostle Paul, 
* Eev. ix. 20. +Deut. xxxii. 16, 17. J Lev. xvii. 2—7. 



THE FIRST COMMANDMENT: 



in addressing the early Christians, who being sur- 
rounded by idolaters, were in a danger similar to that 
of the Israelites, says : " What say I then ? that the 
idol is anything? or that that which is sacrificed to 
idols is anything ? But I say, that the things which 
the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not 
to God : and I would not that ye should have fellow- 
ship with devils." * 

"We may now perceive why Jehovah, in frequent 
appeals to the Israelites, as well as in the proclama- 
tion of this first Commandment from Mount Sinai, 
insisted so strenuously on their refraining from idol- 
atry. But there was still another and' a more interior 
reason. The Jewish Church, by means of its repre- 
sentative worship, had communication with heaven. 
For even though they did not understand the signi- 
fication of the representative ceremonies enjoined upon 
them, yet while they performed those ceremonies in a 
spirit of obedience, and from an externally holy prin- 
ciple, good spirits could thereby be present with them, 
and thus was maintained a certain degree of con- 
junction with heaven. And on this conjunction the 
preservation of the human race depended; for should 
communication with heaven cease, mankind would 
perish. Influx comes to man from the Lord through 
heaven: as the Scripture declares, "A man can re- 
ceive nothing, except it be given him from heaven." + 
This, then, was the chief reason why the Israelites 
were so earnestly commanded and warned to keep the 
laws and ordinances laid down for them, all of which 
* 1 Cor. x. 19, 20. f John iii. 27. 



THOU SHALT NOT HAVE OTHER GODS. 



23 



were representative of holy and heavenly things. 
And first of all, and above all, they were warned to ab- 
stain from the worship of idols; for such worship was 
representative of everything evil and false : idols made 
of gold, silver, wood, and stone, representing, in a 
bad sense, the direst evils and falses ; and the worship 
of such idols represented the love of evils and falses — 
and such love is hell, and not heaven; and conse- 
quently the angels could not be present where such 
worship existed. A similar representation had the 
worship of the sun and moon; for the sun, in a bad 
or perverted sense, signifies self-love; and the moon 
signifies a false faith: hence such worship, also, re- 
presented what was infernal. And in general, the 
worship of anything except the one Jehovah, repre- 
sented the loving of self and the world more than of 
God ; which is a principle the very opposite to that of 
heaven, where love to God is the supreme affection of 
the soul. Consequently, the tendency of idolatry in 
any form was to cut off communication with heaven, 
the effect of which, as before said, would have been to 
cause the human race to perish. Says the Doctrine of 
the New Church, " Idolatry was so severely forbidden 
to the Israelitish nation, because the adoration of 
other gods, of graven things and images, destroyed 
everything representative of the church amongst 
them. For in heaven, Jehovah, that is, the Lord, 
is the universal reigning principle; his Divine fills 
all things therein, and constitutes the life of all; 
so that if anything had been worshiped instead 
of the Divine, everything representative would 



24 THE FIRST COMMANDMENT: 

have perished, and thus, also, communication with 
heaven."* 

We may now understand why Jehovah terms him- 
self a "jealous God," that is, one who could not brook 
the worship of any other being than himself. It was 
not for his own sake that he required worship, but for 
man's, for only thereby could man have conjunction 
with heaven and with the Lord, and be saved. 

Such, then, is the first and most obvious meaning of 
this Commandment : it forbids the worship of idols. 

But now, having heard this explanation, we may 
feel that in this sense, at least, the Commandment 
has little reference to us ; for we are in no danger of 
any such worship. True : we are in little danger of 
breaking the commandment in this its most external 
sense; but there is a sense, closely allied to this, con- 
sidered in which, we are in the greatest danger of 
breaking the Commandment. There are idols of the 
heart, the worship of which is more deadly than that 
of wood and stone. And such idols the whole Christian 
world is in the daily worship of; and it may be that 
some of us are sharing in such worship. Let us ex- 
amine these idols, and see what they are. 

Oovetousness, says the Apostle, is idolatry :t the 
love of the world, the love of pleasure, the love of 
any earthly thing, when it is made a supreme object 
of regard, is idolatry* For 'worship does not consist 
merely in bowing down on the knees, or in uttering 
prayers: these are acts of the body: the essence of 
worship is to be sought in the heart. W° rs ^P means 
* Arcana Ccelestia, n. 8875. + Coloss. iii. 5. 



THOU SHALT NOT HAVE OTHER GODS. 



25 



essentially a supreme love for a thing; that, therefore, 
which man supremely loves, he in fact and in heart 
worships, though he may not pay it any formal adora- 
tion : hence, such a thing is truly an idol. To the miser, 
for instance, gold is an idol ; he in heart worships it ; 
for it is the object of his strongest love, and it occupies 
the ' first place in his thoughts. " He who, or that 
which, is loved above all things," says the doctrine of 
the New Church, " is to him that thus loves, a god 
and divine. As, for instance, whoever loves himself 
above all things, or the world above all things, to such 
a person himself or the world is his god. Hence, such 
persons do not in heart acknowledge any God : they 
therefore are conjoined with their like in hell, where 
are collected all who have loved themselves and the 
world above all things." * 

Under the light of this truth, look now at the 
Christian world! How many thousands who little 
think they are idolaters, are yet truly such in heart ! 
how many, who have little idea that they are breaking 
this first Commandment, are doing so daily and hourly ! 
" Ye cannot," said the Lord, " serve God and Mam- 
mon." f Here the same truth is expressed by the 
Divine Savior himself, who was Jehovah manifest in 
.the flesh. He who from Mount Sinai, amid thunders 
and lightnings, uttered the words, " Thou shalt have 
no other gods before my face"— the same Jehovah, 
-clothed with Humanity, and standing in the streets of 
Jerusalem, declared that those who worshiped Mam- 
mon broke this commandment, for they could not do 
* True Christian Religion, n. 293. + Matt. vi. 24. 



26 



THE FIRST COililAXDMEXT : 



that and serve God at the same time. Yet was Mam- 
mon never worshiped more ardently than at this day. 
The supreme love and pursuit of wealth is the great 
crying sin of this age, and carrying, perhaps, greater 
numbers down to the pit, than all other evils com- 
bined. For, cheating, lying, fraud, deception, cunning, 
envy, jealousy, meanness, and a host of other evils, 
follow in its train; and these drag the soul down to 
destruction. They deprive it of everything spiritual, 
and of all love for what is spiritual : they shut the 
ears against preaching and the Word of God ■ they 
render the mind indifferent to everything but what is 
earthly and temporal: they make religion a mere 
form, and worship a mockery : they harden the- heart 
against the entrance of every noble aspiration. When 
a young man has fixed it in his mind to make a fortune, 
and taken that for his end, — woe to him! he is an 
idolater, and has broken the first Commandment, and 
thus will be easily led to break all the rest. He has 
taken Mammon for his God, and turned his back on 
heaven, and his path is downward. In twenty or fifty 
years, he will be in that evil place whither myriads 
have gone before him. 

The world is full of ' such idolatry : what shall we 
do 1 I will tell you what you that hear me can do for 
yourselves. If you are a young man, — whenever the 
thought of getting rich comes into your mind, and you 
find it beginning to become your principal end in life 
— drive it away, as you would a monster that would 
devour you. And pray the Lord to help you drive it 
away. Let your only end be, to be an upright and 



THOU SHALT NOT HAVE OTHER GODS. 27 

good man, a worthy member of society, and preparing 
to be an angel of heaven. Live for this end,., and no 
other. Then will all things which you really need, — 
as much earthly wealth as will be for your good, — be 
sent you by the Lord's providence, while engaged in 
the faithful and diligent discharge of your duty ; for 
the Lord himself has declared, " Seek ye first the king- 
dom of God, and his righteousness, and all things 
(needful) shall be added unto you. "'* 

Here, then, is one form of idolatry, which is to be 
guarded against. But there are many other forms of 
it. There is the love of self, which is still more deeply 
evil than the love of the world. The love of the 
world is, indeed, one form of self-love or selfishness; 
but what is meant distinctively by the love of self, is 
the love of dominion, ambition, the love of putting 
one's self above others. This, in all its forms, is the 
most direfully infernal passion of the human breast; 
for as the love of others equally as of one's self, or 
more than of one's self, is the very love that makes 
heaven, so is the love of self above others, especially in 
the form of desiring to rule over others, the essential 
principle of hell. Hence, such love is idolatry of the 
deepest kind, it blots out God utterly from the soul, 
and makes men at heart atheists. 

But it is not merely in public and political life, 
that such love of self and of ruling exists : it may be 
found, also, in private life. Whoever is filled with 
the thought of himself, with self-esteem and self- 
admiration; whoever wishes to take the lead in all 
* Matt. vi. 33. 



£3 



THE FIE ST COMMANDMENT: 



things, and to be first, and to subject others to his 
own will, is, in that degree, a worshiper of himselfj 
and an idolater. And there is no doubt that much of 
the speculative atheism that prevails at this day is 
attributable to this source : for the fire of self-love in 
the heart, sends up a smoke into the understanding, 
which clouds it and shuts out the light of heaven, by 
which alone God can be mentally seen. Intellectual 
self-conceit is the destruction of many a soul, and it 
needs to be guarded against as a sin, 

" The command, Thou shalt not make to thyself 
other gods, involves," says the Doctrine of the ]STew 
Church, "that man should not love himself and the 
world above all things, for what a man loves above 
all thiDgs, that is his god. There are two loves 
altogether opposite to each other, the love of self and 
love to God ; also the love of the world and the love 
of heaven- He who loves himself loves his own pro- 
priuni [or selfhood], and the proprium of man is 
nothing but evil: hence also, he loves evil in all its 
complex; and he who loves evil, hates good, and 
thence also hates G-od. He who loves himself above 
all things, immerses his thoughts and affections in the 
body, and thereby in his proprium ; and he who is 
immersed in the body and in his proprium, is in cor- 
poreal ideas, and in pleasures which are merely of the 
body, and hence is in thick darkness as to those things 
which are above. And he who is not in the light of 
heaven, but in thick darkness, inasmuch as he does not 
see anything of God, denies God, and acknowledges as 
God either nature, or some man, or some idol, and 



THOU SHALT NOT HATE OTHER GODS. 



29 



even wishes to be worshiped himself as a god. Hence, 
then, it follows, that he who loves himself above all 
things, worships other gods than the Lord. It is the 
same, though in a less degree, with one who loves the 
world. By the love of self is understood especially 
the love of ruling over others from the sole delight of 
rule, and for the sake of eminence, and not from the 
delight of uses, nor for the sake of the public good: 
and by the love of the world is understood especially 
the love of possessing worldly property for the mere 
delight of possession, and for the sake of wealth, and 
not from the delight of uses arising from them, nor 
for the good which may thus be done."* 

"He," continues the ~New Church Doctrine, "who 
supposes that he acknowledges and believes that there 
is a God, before he abstains from the evils mentioned 
in the Decalogue, and especially from the love of 
ruling grounded in the mere delight of rule, and from 
the love of possessing worldly property grounded in 
the mere delight of possession, and not in the delight 
of uses — is much deceived. However much a man 
may confirm himself in the belief that there is a God, 
from the Word, from preachings, from books, and 
from the light of reason, and may thence persuade 
himself that he believes, — nevertheless he does not 
believe, if the evils arising from the love of self and 
of the world are not removed. The reason is, because 
evils and their delights stand in the way and keep 
back the good affections and their delights which flow 
in from heaven, and thus intercept that internal con- 
* Apocalypse Expla ined, n. 950. 



30 



THE FIRST COMilAXDMEXT : 



firmation which attends such influx; and before this 
internal confirmation is received, there is only a faith 
of the mouth, which in itself is no faith, and there is 
not the faith of the heart, which is real faith. The 
faith of the mouth is faith existing only in the ex- 
ternals of the mind: whereas the faith of the heart is 
a faith existing in the internals of the mind. Now, if 
the internals are filled with all kinds of evils, then, 
when the externals are taken away, as is the case 
with every man after death, then the man rejects from 
himself even the belief that there is a God."* 

These profound truths, my brethren, declared by 
the Doctrine of the New Church, are of a nature to 
make us reflect. We need to examine ourselves, to 
see whether we are truly heart-worshipers of God, or 
only lip- worshipers. Tried by the test here given, it 
is to be feared that thousands who are seen every 
Sabbath-day solemnly worshiping God with their lips 
in the churches of the land, are at heart atheists, and 
will be found such after death. We need to beware* 
lest we be of that number, self-deceived. If we are 
habitually indulging in any known evils, the* love of 
self, the love of the world, the love of pleasure, — if we 
give way to angry passions, to the spirit of rage, of 
hatred and revenge, — if we are not continually 
striving to combat our evils, and continually examin- 
ing ourselves, also, to know what our evils are — then 
we are idolaters at heart, whatever we may appear 
before the world, or whatever we may suppose our- 
selves to be. But in the de.gree that we combat our 
* Ap. Ex., n. 952. 



THOU SHALT NOT HAVE OTHER GODS. '31 

evils, and overcome them, and put them away, in that 
degree good from the Lord will flow in, and with it 
the light of heaven, and we shall thereby have an 
internal conviction and confirmation that there is a 
God of love and goodness, a true and heavenly Father, 
an everlasting Friend, who will watch over us and 
keep us all our life long, and gift us at length with 
life eternal in heaven; and with our minds filled 
with such belief and perception, our worship will.be 
genuine, and tender, and from the heart; and every 
act of such worship will conjoin us more closely with 
the Lord. 



SERMON III. 



THE FIRST COMMANDMENT: SPIRITUAL SENSE. 

"I am Jehovah, thy God, who brought thee forth out of the 
land of Egypt, out of the house of servants. Thou shalt not have 
other gods before my face. Thou shalt not make to thyself any 
graven thing, nor any likeness of anything which is in the 
heavens above, or which is in the earth beneath, or which is in 
the waters under the earth: thou shalt not bow thyself down 
to them nor serve them. For I, Jehovah, thy God, am a 
jealous G-od, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons, 
upon the thirds and upon the fourths with those that hate me, 
and showing mercy, to thousands, with those that love me and 
keep my commandments." — Exodus xx. 2 — 6. 

Having given, in the previous discourse, a- general 
view of this Commandment in its literal sense, I now 
proceed to consider it in its internal or spiritual 
sense. 

"The spiritual sense of this Commandment," says 
the Doctrine of the New Church, "is, that no other God 
than the Lord Jesus Christ is to be worshiped ; for he 
is Jehovah, who came into the world and effected the 
redemption, without which neither man nor angel could 
have been saved. All who acknowledge and worship 
any other God than the Lord the Savior, Jesus Christ, 
who is Himself Jehovah God in the human form, sin 
against this Commandment. So also do those who per- 



SPIRITUAL SENSE. 



33 



suacle themselves that there are three Divine Persons 
existing from eternity." * 

That Jesus was Jehovah manifest in the flesh, thus 
that the Divine Creator was Himself also the Savior, is 
taught, in Scripture, in the most express terms. 
Thus in Isaiah ;t "It shall be said in that day, 
Behold, this is our God ; we have waited for him, and 
he will save us ; this is Jehovah : we have waited for 
him ; we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation." 
Again, " The voice of him that crieth in the wilder- 
ness, Prepare ye the way of Jehovah; make straight in 
the desert a highway for our God. And the glory of 
Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it 
together."^: And again, " I, even I, am Jehovah, and 
beside me there is no Savior." § So in Hosea, || "I 
am Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou 
shalt know no God but me, for there is no Savior 
beside me." In these passages it is declared emphati- 
cally that there is no Savior but the one Jehovah : now 
all acknowledge Jesus to be the Savior : — then he must 
have been that Jehovah. In like manner, Jehovah is 
declared to be the Redeemer. "I, Jehovah, am thy 
Savior and thy Redeemer."^ "As for our Redeemer, 
Jehovah of hosts is his name." ** " Thus saith the 
Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed 
thee, O Israel ; fear not, for I have redeemed. thee."ft 
Here it is affirmed that the Creator is also the Re- 
deemer; thus that they are one and the same. 

* True Christian Religion, n. 294, 296. + xxv. 9. 

X xL 3, 5. § xliii. 11. || xiii. 4. 

If Isa. xlix. 26. **.xlvii. 4. tt xliii. L 
C 



84 



THE FIRST COMMANDMENT: 



Moreover, J esus himself when he was in the world 
affirmed that "he and the Father were one,"* and 
that he who saw him, saw tfye Father :f said he, 
"Before Abraham was, I am," J showing thus that 
he was the. I am, Jehovah himself, clothed in a human 
form. 

Now, if this be so, — if Jesus be Jehovah, the one 
God, at once the Creator and the Redeemer, then, it 
is plain that to worship any other God than he, is a 
violation of this Commandment. And this is still 
more clearly seen, when we consider the words that 
follow, understood in their spiritual sense. "I am 
Jehovah thy God, who brought thee forth out of the 
land of Egypt, out of the house of servants." Now by 
these words, spiritually understood, is signified the 
Redemption. For by the deliverance of the Israelites 
from the oppression of the Egyptians, was represented 
the Lord's work of Redemption, by which he delivered 
his people, that is, the good, the spiritual, from the 
bondage of hell, the tyranny of infernal spirits. By 
the people of Israel in the land of Goshen, while 
under the power of the Egyptians, were represented 
the spiritual, who lived before the Lord's coming, and 
who were reserved in a part of the spiritual world, 
termed the "lower earth," where they were, in a mea- 
sure,, infested by the hells. They could not be 
delivered and elevated into heaven, until the Lord 
came in the flesh. But when he came, he emanci- 
pated them. This is what is meant in the old Apostles' 
Creed,, by the words, " He descended into hell" — hell, 
* John x. 30. t John xiv. 9. + John viii. 58. 



SPIRITUAL SENSE. 



35 



here meaning properly the lower earth, which was 
near the hells. As the apostle says, "he descended 
into the lower parts of the earth." * Those who were 
there are meant in Scripture by the " bound," or the 
"captives," whom the Lord - delivered out of the 
prison-house, and by the prisoners whom he drew out 
of the pit.f The same state, also, is referred to in 
Peter's saying, that the Lord " preached to the spirits 
in prison," J that is, instructed these waiting spirits in 
the truths which it was necessary for them to know, 
before they could put off their falses, and so be ele- 
vated into heaven. Captive spirits in a similar condi- 
tion to these are described in the Apocalypse — by the 
souls under the altar, who were waiting for their 
deliverance, and crying, " How long, O Lord?"§ The 
state of such captive spirits was represented by the 
Israelites in 'bondage in Egypt ; and the deliverance 
of the Israelites out of Egypt by Jehovah's " strong 
hand and outstretched arm," represented the work of 
Redemption accomplished by Jehovah in the Humanity, 
that is, by Jesus Christ, whereby he delivered the 
good out of the bondage of hell and of evil spirits, 
and conveyed them to the heavenly Canaan, that is, 
elevated them into heaven. 

Yiewed in this light, it may be seen, that the 
words, " who brought thee forth out of the land of 
Egypt, out of the house of servants," refer in their 
true and spiritual sense, to Jesus the Savior ; and 
thus that the God who here speaks of himself as the 

• * Eph. iv. 9. t Isa. xlii. 7 ; li. 14. 

1 1 Pet. iii. 19. § Eev. vi. 9-11. 



36 



THE FIRST COMMANDMENT: 



only God, and alone to be worshiped, is in fact 
Jehovah Jesus, at once the Creator and the Redeemer 
of mankind. 

And this is, truly, the one God who is to be 
worshiped, and there is no other. Before the incar- 
nation, indeed, Jehovah, that is, the abstract, essential 
Divinity, was the Object of worship. But as the 
unclothed abstract Divine is invisible to man's mental 
sight, and inaccessible to the finite mind, men's minds 
were in comparative obscurity, and a shadow rested 
on the world. But when that J ehovah became in- 
carnate, and appeared in the form of Jesus, then a 
light arose on mankind : " the people that sat in 
darkness saw a great light, and to those that sat in 
the region and shadow of death light sprang up."* 
This was because the Divine was now accommodated 
to men's perceptions: clothed in Humanity, he had 
now made himself accessible to them. Hence Jesus 
called himself "The light of the world." f He also 
appeared transfigured before the Apostles, " His face 
shining as the sun, and his raiment white as the 
light. I This was the internal Humanity, which they 
beheld with their spiritual sight, through the veil of the 
flesh not yet glorified. But after his resurrection, he 
rose with the humanity wholly glorified, and in that 
glorious body ascended," as the. AjDostle says, "far 
above all heavens, that he might fill all things." § 
This is now the one true object of worship — Jehovah 
incarnate, Jehovah clothed with Humanity, the Lord 

* Matt. iv. 16. + John viii. 12. 

$ Matt. xtii. 2. § Eph. iv. 10. 



SPIRITUAL SENSE. 



37 



Jesus Christ. This is now the one God of heaven and 
earth, and there is no other : He is at once the Father 
and the Son, the Divine and the Human, in one glorified 
Person. Whoever beholds this Divine Person before 
his mind's eye, beholds the one true God; whoever 
looks to any other object than Jesus, and addresses it 
as God, is addressing a phantasy, a creature of his own 
imagination, a Being that has no existence, — and con- 
sequently he is not worshiping the true God. 

This, then, is the sense of the opening words of 
this Commandment, and it is a sense most important 
to be understood. We now proceed to consider the 
spiritual sense of the other portions of the Command- 
ment. 

" Thou shalt not have other gods before my face." 
" These words signify, in the spiritual sense, that 
truths ought not to be thought of from any other 
source than from the Lord."* The term God signifies 
distinctively Divine Truth : hence " gods," in the 
plural, signify Divine truths. In the Psalms, the 
angels are sometimes termed " gods," simply on the 
ground that they are recipients of Divine truth. 

"It is to be shown," continues the New Church 
Doctrine, " what is meant by truths which are from 
another source than from the Lord. They are such 
truths as have not the Lord in them. The Lord is 
not in truths with man, in case a man denies Him and 
his Divinity; nor even though he acknowledges Him, 
and yet believes that good and truth are not from 
Him, but from self, and hence claims righteousness 
* Arcana Ccelestia, n. 8867. 



38 



THE FIRST COMMANDMENT: 



for himself. Truths, also, in which the Lord is not, 
are those which, while drawn from the Word, especially 
from the literal sense, are yet so explained as to 
favour the love of ruling and the love of gain : these 
in themselves, indeed, are truths, but yet they are no 
longer truths, because they are misinterpreted and 
thus perverted. Truths which are not from the Lord, 
only appear as truths in the external form, but within 
they are either empty, or false, or evil. In order to 
constitute a truth, there must be life in it, for truth 
without life is not a truth of faith with man ; and life 
is from no other source than from good, that is, tlirough 
good from the Lord."* 

Here, then, we learn something important to be 
known, — that the truths we possess are not genuine, 
not real trnths in the sight of the Lord, unless there 
be good within. Hence, merely to be in the science 
of truths, to have truths stored up in the memory, 
as they are learned from books or heard in preaching, 
does not really make them ours ; they are truths to us 
no farther than they are joined to a good life, no far- 
ther than they are accompanied by humility of heart, 
and an acknowledgment that all genuine good and 
truth are from the Lord, and not from ourselves or our 
own minds. 

The text proceeds, "Thou shalt not make to thy- 
self any graven thing, nor any likeness of anything 
which is in the heavens above, or in the earth beneath, 
or in the waters under the earth : thou shalt not bow 
thyself down to them, nor serve them." " By a graven 
* A. C, 8868. 



» 



SPIRITUAL SENSE. 



30 



thing, in the spiritual sense, is denoted that which is 
not from the Lord, but from the proprium [or selfhood] 
of man : that which is from the intellectual proprium 
is signified by a graven thing, and that which is from 
the will proprium is signified by a molten thing: to 
account either the former or the latter a god, or to 
adore it, means to love above all things that which 
proceeds from self. Those who do this, do not at all 
believe that anything of intelligence and wisdom flows 
in from the Divine, but attribute all things to them- 
selves; and such things as befall them they ascribe to 
fortune or chance, absolutely denying any Divine pro- 
vidence in such things. They suppose that if there is 
anything of Deity present at all, it is in the order of 
nature, to which they ascribe all things. They profess 
indeed, with their lips, to believe in a God, the Creator, 
who has impressed such powers on nature, but in heart 
they deny the existence of any God above nature. 
Such are those who from the heart attribute all things 
to their own prudence and intelligence, and nothing 
to the Divine. These are the makers of graven things, 
and the graven things themselves are what they hatch 
from their own proprium, and are willing should be 
adored as Divine." * 

How many breakers of this Commandment, in the 
sense thus given, exist in our day! The world is 
full of them— the literary world, the scientific world, 
the world even of common life. There are writers, 
eminent and admired, who, it is to be feared, are 
thus framers of graven images, which they themselves 
*A.C, 8869. 



40 



THE FIRST COMMANDMENT: 



worship — namely, their own ideas — and hold up to be 
worshiped by the world. They are such as are proud 
of their " originality," as it is termed — as if anything 
good or true could originate from any other source 1 
than the Lord alone. They are men who, having 
been gifted by their Creator with some talents and 
abilities, look upon these abilities as self-derived, 
are proud of them, and take a delight in displaying 
them before the world, and holding them up to the 
admiration of mankind. Continually engaged in 
self-contemplation and self-admiration, every idea that 
comes forth from their haughty minds, they look 
upon as beautiful and true, and worthy of all regard. 
The sparkle of quaint conceits they mistake for the 
brilliancy of genuine truth; and the gaudy dress of 
pompous words, they look upon as the expression of 
lofty thoughts. Such persons are self-worshipers : 
they are truly gods to themselves ; or they are 
worshipers of the graven images which their own 
hands have made — that is, they love and admire 
above all things the ideas which, as they suppose, 
emanate from their own minds. 

These are of the literary class. There are others, 
men of science, who, proud of their acquirements in 
astronomy, geology, or some other study, are so 
puffed up with their knowledges as to think them- 
selves possessed of all wisdom. They admire the 
greatness of the human mind, which has been able 
to invent such wondrous instruments as the telescope 
or microscope ; and because by such means they have 
been able to obtain a glimpse of distant stars, they 



SPIRITUAL SENSE. 



41 



fancy themselves almost as great as He who^made 
them. Such persons are man-worshipers, and are 
too much struck with admiration of human powers, 
to be able to bow down in heart before the Great 
Being from whom, in fact, all those powers are 
derived, and by whom they are momentarily sustained. 
But there are men in ordinary life, men who are 
neither literary nor scientific, but who are so puffed 
up with self-conceit, with pride at the thought of their 
own intelligence, and admiration of their own prudence, 
as to be unable truly to worship any God but 
themselves. Such men are truly idolaters. Unless, 
perchance, sickness or distress of some kind should 
be found sufficient to break down their pride, they 
can hardly find a place hereafter among the angels of 
heaven, who are all humble worshipers of the Lord. 

The Commandment continues : " Nor any likeness 
of anything which is in the heavens above, or in the 
earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth." 

Here, now, a different kind of sin is referred to, 
namely, the sin of hypocrisy, which puts on a 
"likeness" of what is good and true, while within there 
is nothing but evil and the false. By the expressions, 
"heavens, earth, and waters under the earth," are 
signified, in the spiritual sense, not the outward 
universe, but the inner world of man's mind, in its 
various degrees or divisions. " The heavens" signify 
the heavenly or spiritual mind, " the earth," the 
natural mind, and the "waters under the earth," 
the sensual or corporeal mind, that is, the part of 
the mind which is next to the senses, and which 



4:2 



THE FIRST COMMANDMENT: 



gathers all its ideas through the senses : it is said 
"waters," because waters signify knowledges of truth, 
such as are laid up in the natural memory. Now, 
in all these degrees or divisions of the mind, when 
in their proper order, there are various forms and 
degrees of good and truth ; for there is spiritual 
good and truth, such as respects heavenly life, there 
is natural good and truth, such as belongs to moral 
and civil life, and there is sensual good and truth, or 
such as concerns the orderly pleasures of the senses, 
and scientifics. To "make a likeness" of any of these, 
is to assume or pretend to good or truth in any form, 
which the man does not really possess— in other words, 
to act the hypocrite, the dissembler. This is the evil 
that is forbidden by this portion of the Commandment, 
understood in its spiritual sense. Any one may see 
that a hypocrite cannot be a true worshiper of God : 
he has not the primary principle of worship, namely, 
truth and sincerity, — still less that more interior prin- 
ciple, humility of heart. Says the Doctrine of the 
New Church, " The things which are in the heavens, 
and in the earth, and in the waters, mean such things 
as are from the Divine everywhere. Likenesses of 
things from the Divine are made by men, when they 
speak Divine things with the mouth, and also in act 
do such things as are commanded by the Divine Being, 
and thus induce a belief that they are in good and 
truth, when yet in heart they entertain altogether 
different thoughts and will only what is evil. Such 
are dissemblers, hypocrites, and the deceitful : these 
are they that make 'likenesses' of the things which 



SPIRITUAL SENSE. 



43 



are from the Divine." * All such hypocrisy and deceit 
are here forbidden. 

And now we have reached the conclusion of the 
Commandment: — "For I, Jehovah thy God, am a 
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon 
the sons, upon the thirds and upon the fourths, with 
those that hate me, and doing mercy to thousands 
with those that love me and keep my commandments." 
This clause seems, in the literal sense, to express an 
idea, which strikes every reader, even the minds of the 
young, with a sense of injustice, namefy, that children 
should suffer for the sins of their parents. "We shall 
find, that, viewed in the light of the spiritual sense, 
the meaning is altogether different. 

In the first place, by a jealous (or, as it might be 
translated, a zealous) God, is meant a God burning 
with zeal and love for the good and happiness of 
his creatures, and who desires them to look to and 
worship Him, not for His own sake, but for theirs; 
and because by so doing, their minds will be opened 
to an influx from Him of truth, goodness, and blessed- 
ness. He is called jealous (for the original word 
has both meanings), only in the sense of being unwill- 
ing that men should turn away from the worship of 
Him, lest they should thereby shut themselves off 
from communication with heaven, and so cast them- 
selves into evil and unhappiness. "Visiting the 
iniquity of the fathers upon the sons upon the thirds 
and upon the fourths, with those that hate me." That 
this is not to be taken literally, is evident from the 
* A. C., n. 8870. 



44 



THE FIRST COMMANDMENT: 



consideration that it is contrary to the Divine law, 
declared in the Word : " The son shall not bear the 
iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the 
iniquity of the son : the soul that sinneth, it shall 
die." * The only way that children suffer for the sins 
of their parents, is by inheriting from them evil pro- 
pensities, and this should be a warning to parents to 
beware how they indulge such propensities in them- 
selves. But in the true spiritual sense, the meaning 
is altogether different. By the term " father," in that 
sense, is signified good or love, because the Lord, who 
is the Father of all, is Love itself : but in the opposite 
or bad sense, " father" signifies evil. So, the term 
" son " signifies truth, because truth is derived from 
good, as a son from a father ; but in the opposite 
sense, "son" signifies falsity. In like manner, the 
numbers three and four have a spiritual sense. 
Three signifies what is full or complete, or an entire 
series from beginning to end : four signifies con- 
junction, because it is a multiple of two, which 
signifies conjunction or union of two things. Now, 
then, by " visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the 
Sons, upon the thirds and upon the fourths" (there is 
no such word as generation, observe, in the original) 
is meant increase of evils and consequent falses in a 
long series and conjunction. " With those that hate 
me;" that is, with those who do not worship the 
Lord, but reject him. The meaning is, that with those 
who do not worship the Lord, but love only themselves 
and the world, evils of heart continually increase, 
* Ezek. xviii. 20. 



SPIRITUAL SENSE. 



45 



and with them, falses also, in a long series, and all 
conjoined or connected together. Such is the spiritual 
sense of the passage, and we see how different it is 
from the literal sense. 

The text concludes, "And doing mercy to thou- 
sands, with those that love me and keep my command- 
ment." By "doing mercy" is meant doing good to, 
— conferring blessings upon. " To thousands " means 
forever and ever • for the expression " thousands," 
in the spiritual sense, signifies indefinitely or very 
much, and when spoken of the Lord it signifies 
infinitely or forever. Thus, the meaning is, that 
with those who worship the Lord and keep his com- 
mandments, truth and good and blessedness will con- 
tinually increase, even in this life, until they become 
regenerated and fitted for heaven, and then after 
death they will be gifted with life eternal and all its 
endless joya 



SERMON IV. 



THE SECOND COMMANDMENT: NOT TO TAKE GOD'S 
NAME IN VAIN. 

" Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; 
for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in 
vain." — Exodus xx. 7. 

"By taking God's name in vain," says the Doctrine of 
the New Church, " is meant, in the natural or literal 
sense, the abuse of the name itself, in common dis- 
course, especially in the support of falsehoods and lies, 
also in oaths without cause, or with a view to excul- 
pate one's self from the charge of evil designs, or in the 
practice of tricks and incantations. But to swear by 
God and his holiness, or by the Word and Gospel, in 
the case of admission to any office, as at the coronation 
of a king, at inaugurations into the priesthood, or 
inductions into places of trust, is not to take the name 
of God in vain, unless he who takes the oaths after- 
wards disregards his engagements. The name of God, 
which is holiness itself, is moreover constantly to be used 
in the holy services of the church, as in prayers, psalms, 
and in all worship, and also in preaching, and in 
writings on religious subjects. The reason is, that 
God is in all things of religion, and, when properly 



NOT TO TAKE GOD S NAME IN VAIN. 



47 



invoked, he is present by means of his name, and hears. 
In such a use of it, God's name is hallowed." * 

From this passage we learn, what is important to be 
known, that the conscientious scruples of the Quakers 
and others in regard to taking an oath on solemn and 
official occasions, are groundless, and that to swear on 
such occasions is not to take God's name in vain. It 
is satisfactory to have all such questions as this settled, 
as they are in the New Church, by the teachings of 
revealed Truth. 

But we also here learn the sinfulness of ordinary 
swearing, or uttering a profane oath. The use of such 
language, whether the speaker is aware of it or not, is 
incited from those horrid hells where the spirit of 
blasphemy reigns; and the practice of it must tend to 
keep the mind in connection and communion with 
that class of infernals. Whoever, therefore, does not 
wish to keep his spirit conjoined and bound to the 
hells, must refrain from such a practice as a sin. 

The use, moreover, in' common discourse, of terms 
opposite to those of God, as " the devil," or " hell," 
" damnation," or any similar expressions, flows doubt- 
less from a similar source. The infernals breathe into 
the angry mind or the loose mind the thought of them- 
selves, and prove their presence in the speaker's heart, 
by inciting the utterance of their own wicked names 
from his lips. All bad language, in a word, proceeds 
from a bad source, and will be scrupulously avoided by 
him who desires to keep his spirit in a state of inno- 
cence, and in communion with the angels of heaven. 
* True Christian Religion, n. 297. 



48 



THE SECOND COMMANDMENT: 



It should be added, that the use of the name of 
God in a light way, — even though not in what is 
called " an oath" — a sin such expressions as " God 
knows," " God bless me," and in all similar' phrases, is 
to be avoided, as tending to lessen the feeling of 
reverence which should be ever entertained for the 
Divine name — a name which should never be uttered 
but with solemnity and reverence. " That the name 
of Jehovah God," says the New Church Doctrine, "is 
in itself holy, is evident from the fact that from the 
earliest times the Jews did not dare, nor do they now 
dare, to utter the name Jehovah, and that, on 
that account, neither would the Evangelists nor the 
Apostles : wherefore, instead of Jehovah, they said Lord, 
as is evident from various ' passages transcribed from 
the Old Testament into the New, in which, in the 
place of Jehovah, the term Lord is used. That the 
name Jesus is in like manner holy, is known from the 
declaration of the Apostles, that at that name every 
knee should bow in heaven and earth, and that it can- 
not be uttered by any one in hell." It is added, " The 
names of God, which are not to be taken in vain, are 
many; as Jehovah, Jehovah God, Jehovah of hosts, 
the Holy One of Israel, Jesus Christ, and the Holy 
Spirit."* ' ' 

Thus much in explanation of the literal sense. But 
now, in the second place, we are to consider the 
spiritual sense of this Commandment. " By the name 
of God, in the spiritual sense, is meant all that the 
Church teaches from the Word, and by which the 
* T. C. n. 297. 



NOT TO TAKE GOD'S NAME IN VAIN. 49 

Lord is invoked and worshiped. All these things, 
taken together, are the name of God; wherefore, by- 
taking the name of God in vain, in this sense, is 
meant to introduce such things in frivolous conversation, 
or in uttering falsehoods, or in execrations, or in tricks 
and incantations. That the Word and all things of 
the church thence derived, and thus all worship, are 
the name of God, is plain from Scripture. Thus in 
Malachi:* * Ye profane my name when ye say, The 
table of the Lord is polluted; and ye snuff at it when 
ye bring for sacrifice what is torn and lame and dis- 
eased.' ' Jesus said, Where two or three are gathered 
together in my name, there am I in the midst of 
them;'"f where, by being gathered together in his 
name, is meant united in genuine worship. " Thus, 
by the name of God is meant the Divine which pro- 
ceeds from God, and by which he is worshiped." J 

The reason that name has this signification, is be- 
cause name in the spiritual sense signifies quality or 
character; for all names, originally, were intended to 
describe the quality or character of the person named. 
Hence most of the names mentioned in the Divine 
Word are significative, as, for instance, Emmanuel, 
that is, " God with us," Jesus, " Savior." " That by 
the name of any one," says the New Church Doctrine, 
"is not meant his name only, is manifest from names 
in the spiritual world, where no one retains the name 
which he received at baptism, and from his father or 
ancestors in the world, but every one there is named 
according to his quality, and the angels are named 

* i. 12, 13. f Matt, xviii. 20. % T. C. E. } n. 298. 
D 



50 



THE SECOND COMMANDMENT : 



according to their moral and spiritual life. Thus 
' Gabriel' and 'Michael' are not the names of any two 
persons in heaven, but by those names are meant all in 
heaven who are in wisdom concerning the Lord and 
worship Him."* 

By the name of God, then, is meant the quality of 
God, — all that constitutes his Divine quality, character, 
or nature. " By the name of God is meant all the 
quality by which God is worshiped, for God is in his 
own quality, and is his own quality. His essence is 
Divine love, and his quality is Divine Truth thence 
derived, united with Divine good; thus with us on 
earth it is the Word ; wherefore also it is said in J ohn, 
'the "Word was with God, and the Word was God;' 
and hence also his quality is the doctrine of genuine 
truth and good derived from the Word, for according 
thereto is worship. Hence by profaning the name of 
God is meant not merely to profane the name itself, 
but his quality ; and the quality of God or the Lord is 
all that is derived from Him, and by which he is wor- 
shiped. Hence it is, that in hell, inasmuch as not 
any Divine quality of the Lord is there acknowledged, 
he cannot be named, nor can his name be pro- 
nounced by any one in the spiritual world otherwise 
than as his Divine is acknowledged." t 

We thus perceive that the Lord's name signifies his 
quality ; and his quality, as perceived by our minds, is 
that from which we worship him. Essentially, love 
and wisdom is his name ; hence, also goodness and 
truth ) and moreover the Word, which is goodness 
* T. C. B., n. 300. + Ap. Ex., n. 959. 



NOT TO TAKE GOD'S NAilE M TAIN. 51 

and truth united ; also, all doctrine in the church 
derived from the Word : and in general, all sacred and 
holy things are his name. To profane God's name, 
then, or to take his name in vain, is to ridicule or 
treat with contempt or with levity sacred and holy 
things, as the things of religion and of the Church. 

There now remains to be considered the celestial 
sense of this Commandment. " By taking the name of 
God in vain, in the celestial sense, is meant that 
which the Lord said to the Pharisees, ' I say unto you, 
all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven 
men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not 
be forgiven.'"* 

By blasphemy against the Spirit is meant blas- 
phemy against the Divinity of the Lord's Humanity, 
and against the holiness of the Word. That, in 
the celestial or highest sense, by the name of God 
is meant the Divine Humanity of the Lord, is 
evident from these words; " Jesus said, Father, glorify 
thy name : then came there a voice from heaven, 
saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it 
again." t Here, by the Father's name, or God's name, 
is plainly signified the Humanity or Human Nature 
of the Lord Jesus Christ ; for it was that which was 
glorified. To " glorify" means to make Divine. The 
Human Nature which Jehovah God assumed in the 
world, and by which he appeared to men in the form of 
Jesus Christ, He was continually glorifying or making 
Divine more and more, — just as the good man becomes 
* Matt, xii 31. f T. C. B., n. 299. 



52 



THE SECOND COMMANDMENT: 



regenerated more and more so long as he lives in the 
world. It was a gradual work ; and hence the words 
" I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again ;" 
that is, it was already glorified in part, and the process 
would be continued. And it was continued, till, after 
the Lord's Resurrection, the Human became one with 
the Divine, the Son one with the Father, and then 
Jesus ascended as united God and Man, altogether 
Divine, and now reigns the one God of heaven and 
earth. 

Thus, then, in the celestial or supreme sense, by the 
name of God is meant the Lord's Humanity. And 
to take God's name in vain, is meant to deny the 
Divinity of that Humanity. The reason that this is a 
sin that cannot be forgiven, or the unpardonable sin, 
is because he who obstinately denies the Divine of 
the Lord's Humanity, thereby shuts his mind' against 
heaven, and severs it from conjunction with the Lord. 
For there is no conjunction with God, or the infinite 
Divine, except through a medium; as Jesus said, !No 
man cometh to the Father, but by me : * the term Me 
4here signifies the Humanity or Human Nature which 
uttered those words, and the Father means the infinite 
invisible Divine. The finite mind cannot grasp the 
Infinite, and therefore cannot be conjoined with it 
in thought ; but with that Infinite clothed with 
Humanity, as in Jesus Christ, it can be conjoined. 
Hence man must look to this Humanity glorified, or 
to Jesus Christ, and then it has a true object of wor- 
ship; as Jesus said, "He that seeth me seeth the 
* John xiv. 6. 



NOT TO TAKE GOD'S NAME IN VAIN. 



53 



Father." # But now, if a man denies this Object of 
worship, denies that Jesus Christ is God, he has 
nothing to fix his love and thought upon (for the 
abstract Divine is, as before said, inaccessible), and 
consequently he worships nought but himself and the 
world, and thus remains in his evils, and perishes. 

But it is now to be observed, that no one thus 
interiorly denies the Divine of the Lord, but one 
who is in evils of life. Many, through erroneous 
instruction, may not acknowledge that Divine in 
doctrine here ; but if they are in the good of life, and 
in the effort to obey the Lord's commandments, they 
are interiorly associated with angels ; and after death, 
when instructed aright, they will easily acknowledge 
this essential truth. 

But there is another mode in which God's name 
may be taken in vain, namely, by, denying the holiness 
of the Word. " Inasmuch," says the Doctrine of the 
New Church, "as by the name of God is meant that 
which is from God, and this is called Divine truth, 
which with us is the "Word, — this, being in itself 
•Divine and most holy, is not to be profaned ; and it is 
profaned when its holiness is denied, as is the case 
when it is contemned, rejected, and opprobrion'sly 
treated. When this is the case, then heaven is shut, 
and man is left to hell ; for the Word is the only 
medium of conjunction of heaven with the Church; 
wherefore, when it is rejected from the heart, that 
conjunction is dissolved, and then man, being left to 
hell, no longer acknowledges any truth of the Church. 
* John xiv. 9. 



THE SECOND COMMANDMENT: 



There are two things by which heaven is shut to 
the men of the Church; one is, the denial of the 
Divinity of the Lord, and the other is the denial of 
the holiness of the Word. The reason is, because the 
Lord's Divine is the all in all of heaven ; and Divine 
truth, which is the Word in its spiritual sense, makes 
heaven. Hence it is evident, that he who denies either 
the one or the other, denies that which is the all of 
heaven, and from which heaven is and exists ; and 
thereby he deprives himself of all communication and 
thence conjunction with heaven. To profane the 
Word is the same with blaspheming the Holy Spirit, 
which is a sin not remitted to any one, wherefore it is 
added to this Commandment, that he shall not be 
left unpunished who profanes the name of God " (or, 
as expressed in our translation, "God will not hold 
him guiltless who takes his name in vain").* 

It may thus be seen that one of the most dangerous 
forms of taking God's name in vain, is to profane his 
Word. What will have become, then, of such men as 
Paine and Voltaire, who openly assaulted, contemned, 
and opprobriously treated that Divine Word which 
fills all heaven with its light, and which is the medium 
of conjunction with heaven ? Though we are forbidden 
to pronounce upon any one's final state, yet we may 
presume that the effect must have been to shut 
heaven against them, and to cut them off from its 
communion. Let us beware, then, of any such practices. 

Of that degree of profanation, indeed, we are not 
likely to be guilty. But there is a minor degree of 
* Ap. Ex., n. 960. 



NOT TO TAKE GOD'S NAME IN VAIN. 55 

profanation, of which there is danger. I mean an 
abuse of the Divine Word, by quoting r it lightly in 
conversation, or when speaking of trivial,' still more Of 
improper, subjects. Such a use of the Holy Scriptures 
is profanation. For as we must not take upon our lips 
the name of God except on serious occasions, so neither 
must we utter lightly anything from his Holy Word." 
Says the Doctrine of the New Church, "There are 
various kinds of profanation, some lighter and some 
more grievous. One kind of profanation is committed 
by those who jest from the Word, or concerning the 
Word, or from and concerning the Divine things of 
the Church. This is done by some persons from a bad 
habit, by taking names or forms of speech out of the 
Word, and introducing them into unseemly and some- 
times filthy discourse. This cannot but be connected' 
with some degree of contempt for the Word. Yet the 
Word, in the whole and in every particular, is Divine 
and holy ; for every word therein contains something 
Divine, by which it has communication with heaven. 
This kind of profanation, however, is lighter or more 
grievous in proportion to the acknowledgment of the 
sanctity of the Word, and the indecency of the- 
discourse into which it is introduced by those who 
make a jest of it." # 

Against this species of profanation we need to be 
particularly on our guard; for it is not an uncommon 
thing to hear even good people quote phrases or pas- 
sages from Scripture in light conversation. 

But now there is a third kind of profanation, distinct 
* Divine Providence, n. 231. 



56 



THE SECOND COMMANDMENT: 



from both the others, and more grievous than either : 
it is that which is committed by one who believes 
Divine truth and acknowledges it, and yet lives an evil 
life in opposition to it. Says the Doctrine of the New 
Church, " By taking God's name in vain, is properly 
signified to turn truth into evil, that is, to believe that 
it is truth, and yet to live in evil ; and also it is to turn 
good into the false, that is, to live a holy life, and yet 
not to believe : each is profanation. For to believe is 
of the understanding, and to live is of the will; 
wherefore with those who believe otherwise than as 
they live, the thought and will are divided. But 
whereas the will continually flows into the understand- 
ing, hence it is that where there is a diversity between 
a man's belief and his life, in this case truth and evil, 
or good and the false, are conjoined, thus the things 
which are of heaven with man are conjoined with those 
which are of hell. This conjunction cannot be loosened 
except by a distraction which carries along with it all 
spiritual life; wherefore such subjects are let into a hell 
the most grievous of all, where they are direfully 
tormented. This is what is meant by the Lord's 
words in Matthew, ' Every sin and blasphemy shall be 
remitted unto man, but- the blasphemy of the Spirit 
shall not be remitted to him ; if any one shall say a 
word against the Son of man, it shall be remitted to 
him ; but he who shall speak against the Holy Sjnrit, 
it shall not be remitted to him, neither in this world, 
nor in the world to come.' The same is signified by 
these words in Luke: 'When the unclean spirit is 
gone out from a man, he wanders through dry places, 



NOT TO TAKE GOD'S NAME IN VAIN. 57 

seeking rest ; and not finding it, he says, I will return 
into my house whence I came out ; and coming, he finds 
it swept and garnished : then goeth he and taketh 
seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they 
enter in and dwell there. And the last state of that 
man is worse than the first.' By these words is 
described the profanation of truth. By the unclean 
spirit going forth is meant the acknowledgment and 
belief of truth; and by the house swept, is meant a 
life contrary to truth ; by his return with seven other 
spirits, is meant a state of profanation. That such a 
state with man cannot be healed, is signified by the 
words that follow this Commandment, ' For the Lord 
will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in 
vain.' " # 

This, my brethren, is a solemn warning to us to be 
careful to live according to the truths which we believe. 
To make a true member of the Church — to constitute 
an angel of heaven — belief and life must be conjoined: 
the understanding and the will must be made one. 
And this is effected in proportion as we do the Divine 
Commandments: "If ye know these things," said the 
Lord, "happy are ye if ye do them." This is, indeed, 
a trite truth ; but, trite as it is, it must become a reality 
with us, or we shall never see heaven. It must be our 
earnest endeavor, as far as we learn what is right, to 
strive to do it, and bring it into life. And this the 
Lord will give us power to do, if we look to Him in 
daily prayer, and ask for it. 

* A. C, n. 8882. 



SERMON Y. 



THE THIRD COMMANDMENT : HOLINESS OF THE SABBATH. 

" Remember the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt 
thou labor, and do all thy work : but the seventh day is the 
sabbath of the Lord thy God : in it thou shalt not do any work, 
thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy 
maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy sojourner who is within thy 
gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, 
the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day: 
wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." — 
Exodus xx. 8 — 11. 

In the exposition of this Commandment, I propose to 
present the internal sense first : thus shall we learn the 
true foundation of the holiness of the Sabbath; an 
understanding of which will prepare us for forming 
just ideas in regard to the manner in which the day 
should be observed. 

All the ordinances of the J ewish Church were re- 
presentative of spiritual and Divine things. All the 
ceremonies and observances enjoined upon that church 
represented states of thought and affection in the 
mind. The Jews themselves, indeed, knew nothing 
of the interior significance of those ordinances; yet, 
while they performed them with exactness and faith- 
fulness, and in a spirit of obedience, those observances 



HOLINESS OF THE SABBATH. 



59 



■were the means of keeping not only that people, but 
the whole human race, conjoined with heaven. For in 
consequence of those ceremonies being representative 
and correspondential, the good spirits and angels pre- 
sent with them (for spirits and angels are ever present 
with man) perceived the interior things which were 
signified, and were thereby filled with delight; by 
which delight they were drawn nearer to the wor- 
shiper, and thus threw around him an angelic influ- 
ence which tended to keep him in connection with 
heaven, and to protect him from the influences of 
hell. And, by the law of spiritual communication, 
the connection with heaven thus established through 
the ceremonial Jewish Church, influenced more or less 
powerfully the other peoples of the earth, and thus kept 
all mankind in a certain degree of conjunction with 
heaven. We may thus perceive the interior reason 
for which the Jews were required so strictly to observe 
the statutes, laws, and commandments enjoined upon 
them by Jehovah. 

Among those ordinances, none was more urgently 
insisted upon than the observance of the Sabbath : and 
this on account of its lofty and far-reaching signifi- 
cance. By the Sabbath, in the Jewish Church, was 
represented, first, the union of the essential Divine 
and the Divine Human in the Lord, which is the same 
thing with the Lord's glorification ; secondly, it repre- 
sented the conjunction of the Lord's Divine Human 
with the heavens, from which conjunction life and 
light flow into the angels; and thirdly, it repre- 
sented the heavenly marriage, or the conjunction of 



60 



THE THIRD COMMANDMENT: 



goodness and truth in the minds of angels, and also of 
men, which conjunction is the essential principle of 
heaven; and thus the Sabbath represented heaven 
itself and its happiness. "The Israelitish nation," 
says the New Church Doctrine, " did not think about 
these things, — the union of the Divine with the Divine 
Human of the Lord, nor about the Lord's conjunction 
with heaven, nor about the conjunction of good and 
truth in heaven ; — for that people were altogether in 
things external without an internal; yet they were 
enjoined to account the Sabbath most holy, in order 
that in heaven those Divine and celestial things might 
thereby be represented."* 

The reason that the Sabbath had this representation 
is, because the word Sabbath, in the Hebrew language, 
signifies rest or peace. Now, when the Lord had 
finished his combats with the hells, and glorified his 
Humanity, then He had Divine rest or peace. Hence, 
when he appeared amidst the disciples after His resur- 
rection, he said to them, "Peace be unto you;"t hence, 
* also, he is called the " Prince of peace." In like 
manner, from the new and more powerful influx 
received by the angels through the conjunction of the 
Lord's glorified Humanity with the heavens, they too 
had rest and peace. And, finally, when, in the course 
of regeneration, truth becomes conjoined with good in 
the heart of man, he has rest and peace — rest from the 
disturbing influences of hell, and peace of soul; and 
such rest and peace constitute heaven within him. 
All these were represented by the Sabbath. Hence 
* Arcana Coelestia, n. 8886. + John xx. 19. 



HOLINESS OF THE SABBATH. 



Gl 



we may perceive the ground of the exceeding holiness 
of the Sabbath-day : it represented man's regenera- 
tion, angels' joy, and the Lord's glory. 

By examining, now, the particulars of this Command- 
ment, in their internal sense, we shall perceive more 
clearly that the things above mentioned are signified 
by the Sabbath. 

" Remember," says the text, " the day of the 
Sabbath, to keep it holy" (or, as the Hebrew 
word might be translated, to regard? it as holy, to 
sanctify it). " Remember " signifies not only to keep 
ever in mind, but, spiritually, it signifies to hold as a 
ruling or an inmost principle of the mind — for what is 
a ruling principle in the mind is ever present, influ- 
encing man's thoughts, even though he may be 
unconscious of it. " The day of the Sabbath." " Day," 
in the spiritual sense, signifies state. Hence, "the day of 
the Sabbath" signifies the state of the conjunction of 
goodness and truth in the mind ; also the state of rest 
and peace in the heavens, from their conjunction with 
the Divine Humanity of the Lord ; and, above all, the 
state of Divine Peace in the Lord Himself, when by 
conquests over the hells he had glorified his humanity, 
and united it perfectly to the essential Divine within 
him. " To keep it holy," or " to regard it as holy," 
means that man should have for an inmost or govern- 
ing principle in his mind a reverence for and worship 
of the Lord in his Divine Humanity. He should also 
have for his ruling end the attainment of the con- 
junction of good and truth in his own spirit, for such 
conjunction is heaven in the soul. These are things 



B2 



THE THIRD COMMANDMENT : 



most holy, and to be regarded by man as most holy, 
namely, the Divine Humanity of the Lord, and the 
state of conjunction of good and truth (or, what is the 
same thing, the state of regeneration) which flows into 
man from the Lord's Divine Humanity. 

"Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work." 
By the "six days of labor," in the spiritual sense, are « 
meant the states of mental labor and combat, which 
man passes through in attaining a state of regeneration. 
Such is the signification of labor in many places in the 
Word- for instance, in that interesting passage in the 
Apocalypse, "Blessed are the dead who die in the 
Lord; yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from 
their labors, and their works follow with them.' * 
Here, by "the dead," are meant they who are dead to 
the world, whose natural life of self-love has become 
extinguished, and who have received the new life of 
love to the Lord and to their neighbor in its place — in 
other words, who have become regenerated. By " the 
labors" from which they are to "rest," are signified 
their struggles and combats, the efforts which they 
have made to overcome their own sjiirits, and to 
put away the evils of their hearts: — by labors are 
signified also the inward temptations which to this 
end it was necessary for them to endure. But "now," 
saith the Spirit (that is, the truth of the Divine 
Word declares), they are to have rest from their 
labors, and to be " blessed " forever in heaven, 
whither "their works will follow with them;" that 
is, the result of their faithful endeavors will all be 
* xiv. 13. 



HOLINESS OF THE SABBATH. 



03 



with therri in their own hearts, and will be to them 
an eternal reward. 

Such, then, is the meaning of "labors," in the in- 
ternal sense. It is said six days, because the number 
six, in the Word, signifies a state of combat, while the 
number seven signifies the holy and happy state which 
results from the combat and victory. It is added, 
"And do all thy work;" because, while man is engaged 
in the "work" of regeneration, he has to "do" and to 
strive as of himself; he has to force himself; he has to 
deny himself, and take up his cross. He goes, for 
instance, to the Divine Word and learns a command- 
ment, " Thou shalt not steal," " Thou shalt not commit 
adultery," or some other of the Lord's commandments. 
Then he has to bring these commandments into act by 
effort and striving and struggle, just as if he were 
alone, and had no one to help him. The Lord leaves 
him apparently to himself, in order that he may strive 
as of himself, for only in that way can a new character 
be formed within him. Thus, it is said, "do thy work," 
as if the work of regeneration were accomplished by 
man himself ; and so it is, to appearance ; hence says 
the Apostle, " Work out your own salvation with fear 
and trembling." * Yet it is only an appearance : it is, 
in truth, the Lord who does the work; for He alone 
can overcome the mighty powers of hell who are 
seeking our destruction, and who must be fought with 
in conquering any evil of our hearts. Nevertheless, 
since we must strive as of ourselves, it is called "our 
work." But when the work is completed — when the 
* Phil. ii. 12. 



64 THE THIRD COMMANDMENT : 

seventh day, the state of regeneration is attained, we 
shall look up, humbly and thankfully acknowledging 
that it was the Lord alone who fought for us — that 
he is indeed the only Savior. 

"But," continues the text, "the seventh day is the 
Sabbath of the Lord thy God." As the six days of 
labor signify the states of combat which precede and 
lead to regeneration, so the seventh day signifies that 
state of regeneration itself, with its rest and peace : 
hence the seventh day is called the Sabbath, which as • 
before said, signifies rest. While man is in the process 
of regeneration, he acts from truth, but after he has 
attained regeneration, he acts from good. The only 
way in which regeneration can be effected, is by man's 
learning truths from the Divine Word, and then 
applying them to life, by doing them ; that is, by 
resisting in himself the evils which those truths forbid, 
and compelling himself to perform the duties which 
those truths enjoin. Now, this is a state of effort, 
striving, struggling; hence these are called days of 
labor. But every time that man compels himself to 
do a truth, that is, to act as that truth teaches or com- 
mands, or to resist the evil which that truth forbids, 
then the Lord casts something of evil out of man's 
heart, and in its place sends down the opposite good 
affection or inclination, and conjoins it to the truth 
which has been thus practised, and there results a 
conjunctiou of good and truth, and with it comes a 
heavenly peace — an interior joy of the spirit. This 
is the reward of a temptation overcome. This is a 
little seventh day, a temporary Sabbath, let in, as it 



HOLINESS OF THE SABBATH. 



65 



were, amongst the six days of eombat : it is a little 
resting-place in the journey and battle of life — just as 
the Israelites, in their journey through the wilderness, 
came occasionally to delightful oases or places of re- 
freshment after their trials and fatigues. But when 
the work of regeneration is fully effected, — which, how- 
ever, hardly takes place in this life, — when evils have 
all been overcome, and good has been conjoined to 
truth a thousand and a thousand times, by continual 
efforts to keep the Divine Commandments, — then at 
length man comes into the full Sabbath of the soul, the 
full conjunction of good and truth. Then he no longer 
acts from truth, but from good,— no longer from hard 
duty, but from love and delight, and then he is in joy 
and peace. His seventh day is come — the " Sabbath 
of the Lord his God" — that peace " which passeth all 
understanding" is now his : he has attained the eternal 
Sabbath of heaven. 

The particulars of this state are now described in the 
words that follow, understood in their spiritual sense. 
"In it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, 
nor thy daughter, thy % man-servant, nor thy maid- 
servant, thy cattle, nor thy sojourner that is in thy 
gates." 

Terms, which in the literal sense signify persons, in 
the spiritual sense denote principles. Here, by all 
these names of persons and things in a fa mily or house- 
hold, are signified principles and affections within the 
mind itself. Man's mind is a kind of household or 
family circle. There is, first, the leading and ruling 
love, with its corresponding principle or truth : these 



66 



THE THIRD COMMANDMENT: 



are as the father arid mother. Then from the— are 
derived various secondary thoughts and affections : 
these are as the sons and daughters. Moreover, there 
are many subsidiary and subservient principles and 
desires, which as it were give aid and support to the 
ruling love : these are as the man- servants, maid- 
servants, and cattle. Add to these, there may be in a 
household a sojourner, stranger, lodger: this, in the 
spiritual sense, signifies knowledge in the memory. The 
reason of this signification of sojourner is, that, among 
the Israelites a sojourner was a stranger, a foreigner, 
who was dwelling among them, and learning their 
religion, with the intention of becoming one of them. 
Now, as the sojourner was merely in the condition of 
a learner — one acquiring knowledge, hence in the 
spiritual sense, by a sojourner is signified knowledge 
itself. It is said, "who is in thy gates" or K at thy 
gates," because knowledge is merely at the gate or 
entrance into the mind, merely in the memoiy. 

Now, none of these, it is said, shall do any vrork on 
the Sabbath : that is, in the state of regeneration, the 
whole mind is at peace, from the highest principles to 
the lowest, from the inmost to the outermost. By 
doing work, in the Jewish Church, was represented 
acting from self. And the command to do no work on 
the Sabbath, was given in order to represent that 
when man is regenerated, he does not act at all from 
himself, but altogether from the Lord. Not only is 
he led and guided by the Lord, as to his highest 
thoughts and ruling affections, but even his lower and 
worldly thoughts and inclinations are all kept under 



HOLINESS OF THE SABBATH. 



07 



the Divine guidance, and even the very know- 
ledges in his memory are made use of to serve the 
Lord and his fellow-men. That such is the significa- 
tion of the rest of the Sabbath, is plaiu from the 
following passage in Isaiah:* "If thou turn away 
thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on 
my holy day ; and shall call the Sabbath a delight, the 
holy of the Lord, to be honored; and shalt honor 
Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine 
own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words, — then 
shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will 
cause thee to ride upon the high plaoes of the earth, 
and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob, thy father." 
Here we see the state of the Sabbath characterized by 
man's "not doing his own ways, nor finding his own 
pleasure, nor speaking his own words," meaning that 
in the Sabbath of the soul, in the state of full regen- 
eration, man acts wholly from the Lord, and not at all 
from self: and the same is meant by doing no work 
on the Sabbath-day. 

In the conclusion of the Commandment, a reason is 
given for man's keeping the Sabbath, thus : — " Eor in 
six days the Lord made the heavens, and the earth, the 
sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh 
day ; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day and 
hallowed it." Now, every reflecting mind sees that 
this is not to be taken literally, — that the Almighty, 
the Infinite Creator, should have made the universe 
in just six days, and then was tired and needed rest; — 
when it is expressly declared in another place that 
* lviii. 13, 14. 



G8 



THE THIRD COMMANDMENT: 



the Creator of the ends of the earth "fainteth not, 
neither is weary * and when, moreover, as we know 
from the facts of science, the world was not made, 
in six days, but was long ages in the process of forma- 
tion. Besides, why should this be a reason for keeping 
the Sabbath? what is there holy about making a 
natural universe and resting when it was made ? 
But the spiritual sense beautifully explains the passage, 
and shows the command and the reason given for it to 
be perfectly in harmony. By creation in the spiritual 
sense is signified regeneration — for regeneration is, 
as it were, a new creation, a new birth of the soul. 
By the six days are signified, as before explained, the 
states of labor and combat through which man passes 
while in the process of becoming regenerated ; and by 
the seventh day, or the Sabbath, the state of blessed 
rest and peace of mind into which he comes when 
his regeneration is conrpleted. It is here said, that 
the Lord labors and the Lord rests, because it is He, 
in truth, who regenerates man — it is He who carries 
on the work. "While man is still full of evil passions 
and bad dispositions,* the Lord, in endeavoring to check 
and eradicate these, strives and, as it were, labors with 
him ; this is what is meant by the six days of labor. 
But when evils are overcome and cast out, and man 
comes into a state of obedience and submission to the 
Divine will, the Lord no longer labors with man, but 
leads him softly and pleasantly. Then the Lord is said 
to " rest and this state of man's mind is represented 
by the seventh day, or the Sabbath, which is " blessed 
*Isa. xl. 28. 



HOLINESS OF THE SABBATH. 



69 



and hallowed." Hence it is said, "the Lord blessed the 
Sabbath-day, and hallowed it." 

It is remarkable that in the same Commandment, as 
given in the fifth chapter of Deuteronomy, a different 
reason is assigned for keeping the Sabbath. It is as 
follows : "And remember that thou wast a servant in 
the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought 
thee out thence through a mighty hand, and by an 
outstretched arm : therefore, the Lord thy God com- 
manded thee to keep the Sabbath-day." * Thus in 
Exodus, the reason assigned for man's keeping the 
Sabbath is, that the Lord made the world in six days, 
and rested on the seventh ; whereas, in Deuteronomy, 
the reason assigned is, that the Lord delivered the 
Israelites from Egypt. Now, though the reasons as- 
signed appear so different in the literal sense, yet in the 
spiritual sense they signify precisely the same thing, 
namely, man's regeneration, and also the Lord's work 
of redemption by which regeneration was made pos- 
sible to man. For by Egypt is signified the natural 
mind — man's state by nature and before regeneration. 
In that state, man is a servant, for he is under the 
bondage to infernal spirits, who occupy his evil passions 
and lusts, and so rule over him. But the Israelites, by 
whom are represented the men of the church who are 
willing to be regenerated, the Lord delivers from this 
bondage: he "breaks the yoke, and lets the oppressed 
go free." By a " mighty hand and an outstretched arm," 
that is, by his Almighty power, working by an infinite 
variety of means, and through a long course of years, 
* Deut. v. 15. 



70 



THE THIRD COMMANDMENT. 



the Lord gradually draws man out of his unregenerate 
state; and after leading him through many trials and 
temptations, through the spiritual wilderness, brings 
him at length into the heavenly Canaan, — a state of 
regeneration, which is the heaven of the soul here, and 
which will be heaven in fulness hereafter. And this 
state is what is signified by the Sabbath. 

We thus see, that, in the internal sense, the deliver- 
ance of the Israelites from Egypt represented the 
same thing as is signified by the six days of creation, 
namely, the regeneration of man. By that deliverance, 
also, in the supreme sense, is signified the Lord's great 
work of Redemption, which he accomplished while in 
the world. That redemption consisted in the Lord's 
overcoming the Powers of hell, and delivering men 
from their influence. This he effected by admitting 
into himself temptations from the hells, and conquering 
in those temptations. By this means, while he effected 
man's redemption, he also accomplished his own 
glorification. He cast out all the hereditary evils and 
infirmities of his own maternal humanity, and glorified 
it and made it Divine. Then had he internal rest and 
peace after his terrible combats in temptation, and he 
became himself the " Prince of peace." And this holy 
and Divine state of the Lord was represented, in the 
supreme sense, by the Sabbath. Hence we see the 
ground of the holiness of the Sabbath in the Jewish 
Church, namely, that it represented the highest and 
holiest things, the regeneration of man, the glorifica- 
tion of the Lord, — heaven itself. 



SERMON VI 



THE THIRD COMMANDMENT: OBSERVANCE OF THE 
SABBATH. 

"Bemember the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy." — Exodus xx. 8. 

Having explained, in the preceding discourse, the 
true foundation of the holiness of the Sabbath, namely 
its being representative of the glorification of the Lord 
and the regeneration of man, we are now to consider 
in what manner the day itself should be observed. 

• Under the Jewish Dispensation, the requirements in 
regard to the outward observance of the Sabbath were 
of the strictest kind, and the penalty for the violation 
of them was no less than death. This ordinance we 
find in the thirty-first chapter of Exodus, as follows : 
" And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou 
unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my Sabbath 
ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you 
throughout your generations; that ye may know that 
I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep 
the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy unto you. Every 
one that defileth it shall surely be put to death : for 
whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be 
cut off from among his people. Six days may work 
be done ; but on the seventh is the Sabbath of 



72 



THE THIRD COMMANDMENT: 



rest, holy to the Lord : whosoever doeth any work on 
that day shall surely be put to death." 

Further particulars in regard to the manner of 
observing the day, we find in the sixteenth chapter of 
Exodus. In that chapter is described the remarkable 
circumstance of manna being "rained down" upon 
the Israelites for food. They were told that they were 
to go out every morning to gather it, except on the 
Sabbath: on that day they were not to go out, but 
were to collect enough on the previous day, to serve 
for two days. They were also to cook their food on 
the previous day, and not on the Sabbath. The 
command is expressed in the following words : " This is 
what the Lord hath said : To-morrow is the rest of the 
holy Sabbath unto the Lord : bake what ye will bake 
to-day, and boil what ye will boil; and what remains 
over lay up for you, to be kept until the morning. 
And Moses said, Eat that to-day ; for to-day is a Sabbath 
unto the Lord : to-day ye shall not find it in the field. 
See, the Lord hath given you the Sabbath ; therefore, 
he gives you on the sixth day the bread of two days : 
abide ye every man in his place : let no man go out of 
his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on 
the seventh day." 

They were also forbidden to kindle a fire on the 
Sabbath-day. * The reason was, that fire signifies love 
and the life thence derived : hence, to kindle a fire or 
make a fire for one's self, represented love derived from 
self, or self-love, which is evil, In like manner, to 
work on the Sabbath represented to act from self or 
*Exod. xxxv. 3. 



OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. 



73 



from the proprium. But the Sabbath, as shown in the 
former discourse, represents a state of rest and peace 
in regeneration, when man does nothing from self but 
all from the Lord. Now, when the Jews did work on 
the Sabbath, they violated the representation, which 
violation was perceived in heaven, and spirits and 
angels, in that case, could no longer be present with 
them. And such violation was punished with death, 
not only as an example and warning to others, because 
it was of the utmost importance to the welfare of the 
human race that the connection with heaven should be 
maintained, — but also because the punishment of death 
represented that he who acts from self and not from 
the Lord, is in evil, and thus is in a state of spiritual 
death. 

In like manner, it was forbidden to bake and to boil, 
on the Sabbath ; because to bake denoted preparation 
for the conjunction of good, baking being effected by 
fire, and fire signifying good or love : so to boil denoted 
preparation for the conjunction of truth, boiling being 
done by water, 'which signifies truth.* These opera- 
tions were commanded to be done, not on the Sabbath, 
but on the day previous ; because the Sabbath signified 
conjunction itself, the conjunction of good and truth ; 
whereas the operations of baking and boiling repre- 
sented only preparation for conjunction; which belongs 
to a previous state. So minute and particular were all 
representatives in the Jewish Church. 

In the Book of Numbers, fifteenth chapter, there is 
an instance related of the punishment of death for the 
* Arcana Ccelestia, n. 8496. 



74 



THE THIRD COMMANDMENT I 



violation of the Sabbath. The account thus reads : 
"While the children of Israel were in the wilderness, 
they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath-day. 
And those that found him gathering sticks, brought 
him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. 
And they put him in ward, because it was not declared 
what should be done to him. And the Lord said to 
Moses, The man shall surely be put to death ; all the 
congregation shall stone him with stones without the 
camp. And all the congregation brought him without 
the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died, as 
the Lord commanded Moses." The cause of so severe 
a punishment was probably this. The term here ren- 
dered "sticks" signifies properly "trees," or the 
branches of trees : now a tree signifies perception : 
hence to gather trees, or branches of trees, represented 
to gather up or frame in the mind perceptions or views 
of truth from the proprium or from one's own reason- 
ings, and not from the Lord. He who does this, 
falls into deadly falsities. Now stoning to death, in 
the Jewish Church, represented spiritual death from 
falsities ; for a stone represents truth, or, in the opposite % 
sense, the false. Thus, the punishment inflicted upon 
this man represents, it may be said, the state of un- 
believers, who, despising the Divine "Word, wish to 
gather together and frame principles and doctrines 
from their own minds. They will perish in their 
falsities. 

We have thus presented a brief sketch of the manner 
in which the Sabbath was required' to be i;ept under 
the Jewish Dispensation, and shown, also, the ground 



OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. 



75 



of that requirement, namely, because the Jewish Church 
was representative, and by representatives was kept in 
connection with heaven: hence a violation of those 
representatives tended to destroy that connection, 
which, nevertheless, was not only of the utmost 
consequence to themselves, but upon it depended the 
preservation of the whole human race. Hence the 
absolute necessity of keeping those representatives 
inviolate, by the severest enactments. 

But when the Jewish Dispensation was brought to 
its end, and the Lord came into the worTd, then those 
representative ordinances were abrogated. For when 
He who is the antitype comes, then the type or repre- 
sentative ceases. Moreover, it was no longer necessary 
that connection with heaven should be maintained by 
means of representatives, for the Lord Himself in his 
Humanity was now the bond of connection. All things 
were united in Him, for He was the first and the last. 
He was on the earth as to his body, He was in heaven 
as to his spirit, and above all heavens as to his essential 
Divinity. Thus earth, heaven, and the Divine were 
made one in him. 

This being the case, the representatives of the 
Jewish Church were now abrogated, and among them 
the Sabbath so far as related to its merely representative 
character. Hence, the strict and severe commandments 
in regard to the external observance of the Sabbath 
were now no longer binding. This the Lord showed 
by various acts in seeming violation of the Sabbath, 
and for which the Pharisees, as we read, often rebuked 
him. Thus he healed the sick on the Sabbath-day : he 



76 



THE THIRD COMMANDMENT I 



told the palsied man to take up his bed and walk, 
—a thing which the Pharisees declared it was not 
lawful to do on the Sabbath. He also permitted his 
disciples to gather ears of corn and eat them on that 
day, and pronounced them "guiltless" in so doing.* 
"For," said he, "the Son of Man is Lord even of the 
Sabbath," by which was meant, says the Doctrine of 
the New Church, " that the Sabbath was representative 
of him;" t hence, that he was its Lord or Master; and 
implying also that now that He had come of whom the 
Sabbath was a mere representative, that representative 
was abolished. 

Thus, then, the strict rules enjoined upon the Jews 
in regard to the observance of the Sabbath, are not 
applicable to Christians. Still an observance of the 
Sabbath is required. This Commandment is not 
abrogated. It is true, the day now observed by 
Christians is not the same with that of the Jewish 
Sabbath : that was on the seventh day of the week, and 
ours is on the first. The cause of the change was, 
that, in the place of observing the Jewish Sabbath, the 
early Christians were in the habit of meeting together 
to celebrate the day of the Lord's rising from the tomb, 
which was on the first day of the week. > Hence we pro- 
perly call the Sabbath the "Lord's Day," and so it is 
named in the Apocalypse — "I was in the spirit," says 
John, " on the Lord's Day." Our Author, in comment- 
ing oa this passage, remarks, " The words, 'I was in the 
spirit on the Lord's Day,' signify a spiritual state at 
that time from Divine influx. ' I was in the spirit ' 
* Matt. xii. 7. + Tnie Christian Religion, n. 301. £ i. 10. 



OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. 



77 



signifies a spiritual state in which he was when in his 
visions: 'on the Lord's Day' signifies influx then 
received from the Lord, for in that day the Lord is 
present, because the day is holy." * This passage alone 
is sufficient ground for members of the New Church 
accounting the Lord's Day holy, and observing it 
accordingly: but there are other passages which we 
shall proceed to adduce. 

In the exposition of this Commandment, contained 
in the " Universal Theology," there are the following 
remarks in regard to keeping the Sabbath : — " ' Remem- 
ber the Sabbath-day that thou keep it holy. Six days 
shalt thou labor and do all thy work : but the seventh 
day is a Sabbath to Jehovah thy God.' By this," says 
the Doctrine of the New Church, " is meant, in the 
natural sense, which is the sense of the letter, that six 
days are for man and his labors, and the seventh for 
the Lord, and for man's rest derived from Him. 
Sabbath, in the original tongue, signifies rest. The 
Sabbath, among the sons of Israel, was the sanctity of 
sanctities, because it represented the Lord; the six 
days represented his labors and combats with the 
hells j and the seventh represented his victory over 
them, and thus rest. And since that day was the 
representative of the close of the whole of the Lord's 
work of redemption, therefore it was holiness itself. 
But when the Lord came into the world, and thence 
the representatives of that day ceased, then that day 
was made a clay of instruction, in Divine things, and 
thus also a day of rest from labors, and of meditation on 
* Apocalypse Revealed, n. 36. 



78 



THE THIRD COMMANDMENT : 



such things as relate to salvation and eternal lije, as also 
a day of love toward the neighbor." 

In the Apocalypse Explained, in commenting on 
those words of John, "I was in the spirit on the 
Lord's Day," our Author thus speaks: "The Lord's 
Day is the day of the Sabbath; and the Sabbath, in the 
Ancient Churches, which were representative, was a 
most holy day of worship, by reason that it signified 
the union of the Divine and Human in the Lord, and 
hence, also, the conjunction of his Divine Humanity 
with heaven. But after the Lord united his Divine 
with his Human, then that holy representative ceased, 
and that day was made a day of instruction." * 

Now, in these important passages we find a guide as 
to the manner in which the Day is to be kept in the 
Christian Church — in the New Church. It is here de- 
clared that by "the Lord's Day" is meant the Sabbath. 
Not, indeed (as before remarked), that the day we now 
observe, falls on the same day of the week as the Jew- 
ish Sabbath. But the particular day is of no conse- 
quence : the Institution is the same, but with the 
modification above given, that it is no longer -merely a 
representative day, but a day of instruction. The 
command is, " Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy 
work, but the seventh is a Sabbath to the Lord thy 
God." Now, it matters not where you begin to reckon, 
whether from the first day of the week, or from the 
second, since the merely representative character of the 
day is abolished. It is enough that one day in seven 
is by Divine commandment to be devoted to the Lord, 
*Ap. Ex., n. 54. 



OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. 



79 



to " instruction in Divine things," " to rest from 
labors" and to "meditation on the things that relate to 
salvation and eternal life." 

This, then, is to be our guide as to the manner of 
spending the Day. "We are not to spend it in earthly 
and worldly labor; we are not to spend it in sport 
and amusement : it is a day consecrated to the Lord : 
it is a day for meditation on the things that concern 
our salvation : it is a day for spiritual instruction. 
Nor let us imagine— as some have supposed — that we 
shall ever become so perfect, or that the world will 
even become so spiritualized, as not to need to set apart 
particular days for the worship of the Lord, and for 
meditation on Divine things. For we are taught in 
the Writings of the New Church, that even in the 
heavens, and among the angels, where there is the 
perpetual Sabbath of the soul — that is, a state of per- 
petual love and charity, and of interior worship of the 
Lord — nevertheless there are special days set apart for 
meeting together in public worship, and for instruction 
3 in the truths- of the Divine Word.* From those 
Writings we learn, that in the heavens there are 
temples or houses of worship, as on earth, and that 
there are preachings in those temples; thus that the 
angels are ever receiving more and more instruction 
in Divine truth, and so are forever perfecting t — for 
higher truth leads to higher good. Now, if this is the 
case even in heaven, and amongst those who are already 
saved, let us never imagine that we poor creatures 

*SeeT. C. J?.,n. 750. 

t See Treatise on Heaven and Hell, n. 22L 



so 



THE THIRD COMMANDMENT ; 



shall on earth have attained, or can ever attain, to 
such a state of wisdom and goodness as to have no need 
for the outward observance of the Sabbath, and for 
meeting with our fellow-believers in public worship. 

The great benefits to be derived from attendance on 
public worship, are thus strongly set forth in the New 
Church Writings: — "Worship, in the internal sense, 
signifies conjunction by love and charity. Man is 
continually in worship, when he is in love and charity^ 
external worship being only an effect. The angels are 
in such worship • wherefore with them there is a per- 
petual Sabbath: whence, also, the Sabbath, in the 
internal sense, signifies the kingdom of the Lord. But 
man, during his abode in the world, ought not to omit 
the practice of external worship also; for by external 
worship the internals are excited; and by external 
worship the externals also are kept in a state of 
* sanctity, so that internal things can flow in ; moreover, 
man is thus imbued with knowledges, and so prepared 
to receive heavenly things : he is also thereby gifted 
with states of sanctity, though he may be ignorant of 
it, which states are preserved by the Lord for his use in 
eternal life, for in the other life all man's states return."* 
Now, here is most important information. Observe, 
the distinct uses mentioned are four* in number: 1. 
By external worship, internal things are excited; 2. 
by external worship, externals are kept in a state of 
sanctity, so that internal things can flow in; 3. more- 
over, man is thus imbued with knowledges, and so 
prepared to receive heavenly things ; 4. and lastly, lie is 
* A. C., n. 1618. 



OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. 



31 



thus gifted with states of sanctity, even though he be 
ignorant of it, which states are preserved by the Lord for 
his use in eternal lifer Now, let the man who can 
do without all these advantages — stay at home on the 
Sabbath and read his book, or walk abroad into the 
fields and "commune with nature," as it is termed. 
He will reap the consequences in the next life and to 
eternity. Even though he may be, on the whole, a 
good man, and be saved at last, yet he will suffer the 
consequences of breaking this Commandment, as long 
as he lives,. that is, forever. "He," says the Scripture, 
"that breaks one of these least commandments, and 
shall teach men so, shall be called the least in the 
kingdom of heaven."* Even though he should reach 
heaven, he will not reach that elevated place in 
heaven which he might have attained, had he attended 
regularly a place of worship on the Sabbath-day, and 
thereby acquired heavenly knowledges, and received 
from the Lord states of sanctity, which might have 
been laid up for his use in the next life. The man, 
who, in his pride of self-sufficiency, imagines himself 
independent of the benefits of public worship, may be 
assured that in such a state of mind he is far from the 
Lord: "the Lord knoweth the proud afar off." t And, 
unless he humble himself, pray to the Lord for for- 
giveness for his sin, and make amends by returning 
to the path of duty, while he is still in health and 
strength, he will doubtless have to pass through states 
of severe vastation hereafter, even though he be 
eventually saved. 

* Matt. v. 19. + Ps. cxxxviii. 16. 

'f 



82 



THE THIKD COMMANDMENT. 



But those, on the other hand, who keep this Com- 
mandment, by attending regularly the services of public 
worship, and who moreover spend the intervening 
hours, as far as practicable, in reading the Holy "Word 
and the precious writings of the church, and in in- 
structing their families in the same, will reap a harvest 
of spiritual blessings, both in this life and in the life to 
come. They will be armed and strengthened, on the 
Sabbath, for the temptations of the week — for the 
trials of the daily life; they will be brought into 
communion with angels, while listening, in company 
with others, to the Holy Word; and they will have 
states of sanctity laid up by the Lord in the interiors 
of their spirits, which will come forth with power and 
delight in the life after death. Such will be the 
benefits of a regular and humble attendance on the 
services of the Sanctuary. And bring your children 
with you : train them up to go regularly to church on 
the Lord's Day : let them never think of staying at 
home, except for illness. Says the wise man, "Train 
up a child in the way he should go, and when he is 
old, he will not depart from it." Is it too much to- 
devote one day in seven to the worship of the Lord, 
and to "meditation on the things that pertain to salva- 
tion and eternal life" — when the main object of our 
life in this world is to prepare for the life eternal? 



SERMON V1L 

I 

THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT ! HONOR THY FATHER AND 
THY MOTHER, 

"Honor thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be 
prolonged upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." 

Exodus xx. 12. 

"By honoring father and mother, in the literal or 
natural sense," says the Doctrine of the New Church, 
"is meant to honor parents, to obey them, to be 
attentive to them, and to be grateful to them for the 
benefits which they bestow. These benefits are, that 
they feed and clothe their children, and introduce 
them into the world, that they may act their part in 
it as civil and moral persons; also, that by means of 
religious instruction they lead them to heaven ; pro- 
viding thus both for their temporal prosperity, and for 
their eternal felicity : doing all these things from the 
love which they derive from the Lord, whose place 
they fill. In a secondary sense, the command to honor 
father and mother implies the honor due by 
wards to their guardians, in case the parents are 
deceased. In a wider sense, it means to honor the 
king or magistrates, since these provide for the common 
good, as parents do for the good of their children. 



84 



THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT: 



By this commandment, in the widest sense, is meant, 
that men should love their country, because this 
nourishes and protects them."* 

It would seem superfluous to dwell long upon the 
necessity of observing this Commandment, considered 
in its literal sense. The duty of paying honor, respect, 
and attention to parents, is universally recognized by 
the common instincts of mankind, and an ungrateful 
child is looked upon with abhorrence. It may be 
well, however, in a few reflections on the subject, to 
recall some of the grounds on which obedience to this 
Commandment is so imperative on all. Children need 
to have these considerations impressed upon their 
minds, as they are apt to be thoughtless and unreflect- 
ing; and parents themselves need to be familiar with 
them, in order to impress them upon their children. 

Let children, then, consider what a vast debt of 
gratitude is due to their parents. In the first place, 
to them they owe the blessing of existence itself (I 
say the blessing of existence; for though in states of 
great trial and suffering, existence may sometimes 
seem a burthen rather than a blessing, — yet these are 
but temporary states of feeling : in the long run, every 
one — at least, every good person — enjoys life, even in 
this world : but it is when the rapturous joys and 
glories of the future state are considered, that 
existence is seen to be truly, and in the loftiest 
sense, a blessing.) It is true, indeed, that the Lord, the 
Divine Creator, is our Father : from Him alone flows 
the current of life : human parents are merely the 
* True Christian Religion, n. 305. 



HONOR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER. 85 



instrumentalities for preparing the receptacles of life. 
Still, to them, as such instrumentalities, we owe our 
natural existence, and therefore to them, next to the 
Lord, is our greatest debt of gratitude due. 

What words, then, are strong enough to express the 
wickedness of the monster whose hand can deprive a 
parent of life? The crime of parricide has ever been 
looked upon in all nations as the most infamous of 
crimes. Under the Jewish law, even to strike a 
parent was a crime punishable with death: as we 
read in Exodus,* "He that smiteth his father or 
his mother, shall surely be put to death and truly, 
there is something abhorrent to the mind, in the idea 
of a child's raising his hand against the parent that 
gave him being. 

But, in the next place, let children consider the 
anxious and tender care which their parents have 
taken of them from their birth. What pain and 
suffering to the maternal parent was caused by that 
birth itself ! and afterwards during the helpless period 
of infancy, what days and nights have there been of 
watching, of nursing, of tending in sickness ! Shall 
the child not consider and be mindful of this, and 
seek to show his gratitude in every way in his power ? 
and the best way to evince that gratitude is by ready 
and cheerful obedience to his parents' commands, and 
compliance with their wishes. 

Then, too, during the years of growing up, consider 
how many hours of anxious thought have your parents 
spent on your account, in planning to provide for youi 
* xxi. 15. 



80 



THE F^UIiTH COMMANDMENT: 



future welfare! and what constant and daily labors 
have they undergone to provide for your support — to 
supply you with food and clothing and education ! And 
now, in their latter years, shall you not do all in your 
power, to make a return for their guardian care, by 
paying them every kind attention, by providing for 
their wants, if necessary, by supplying them with 
needful comforts, and smoothing their pathway down 
the vale of life. The child who is recklessly indif- 
ferent to, or thoughtlessly neglectful of, these plain 
duties to his parents, deserves to be branded with 
infamy, and cast out of society as an ingrate, — as 
one who is regardless of the first duties of a human 
being. 

Observe the language used in the exposition of this 
Commandment, in the passage before adduced, namely, 
that "By honoring the father and mother, in the 
natural or literal sense, is meant to honor parents, to 
obey them, to be attentive to them, and to be grateful 
to them for the benefits they have bestowed." Let 
every child, then, take care that he thus keeps this 
Commandment,— first, by paying his parents due respect 
and obedience; secondly, by being attentive to them, 
that is, paying attention to their wishes, and seeing 
that their wants are supplied ; and lastly, by striving 
to feel that gratitude to them, which reflection on what 
they have done for you will teach you to feel ; and 
then evince your gratitude in every way in your 
" power, by endeavoring to please them, to serve them, 
and to make them happy. 

And here it is to be remarked, that parents them- 



HONOR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER. 87 



selves may do much to secure these due returns of 
gratitude and attention from their children, by their 
manner of instructing and bringing them up. If a 
parent allows his children, in their youth, to treat him 
with disrespect, and his commands with disobedience, 
how can he expect them to feel, in their manhood, 
that regard which he never took pains to inculcate 
upon and require of them, when they were young? 
He need not expect such feelings to grow up in 
his children's minds spontaneously: man's selfish and 
depraved hereditary nature disposes him to regard 
none but himself, — not even his parents; and if he is 
not taught the duty of paying them such regard, it is 
probable that he will never show it or feel it, 
and that, in after-life, he will consider the duty of 
serving and supporting his parents as a burthen. A 
spoiled child will prove an ungrateful child. But let 
children be taught, throughout their growing up, to 
respect their father and mother, to regard their wishes, 
to obey their commands, to pay them due attention on 
all occasions, — and let those things be required of them, 
as filial duties based on Divine Commandments — and 
then, in their latter years, will parents reap the reward 
of their careful instructions and just requirements, by 
finding their children treating them with continued 
respect, paying them due attention, and showing all 
their life long that filial regard, w T hich they had 
been taught to exercise and to feel in the days of their 
childhood. 

Having thus considered the literal sense of this 



88 THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT I 

Commandment, let us now turn to the spiritual sense. 
By honoring father and mother, in the spiritual sense, 
is signified to love Goodness and Truth: for father, in 
the spiritual sense, signifies Divine good, and mother, 
Divine truth. The reason of this signification of father 
is, because the Lord, in his character of Goodness or 
Love, is the Father and Creator of all. From his 
Divine love, he was impelled to create the vast 
universe, in order that he might fill it with intelligent 
beings, whom he might love and make happy, and by 
whom he might be loved in return. But Divine Love 
could produce nothing but by means of Divine Truth ; 
just as a man can effect nothing from his .will alone, 
without the exercise of his understanding. However 
strongly a person may desire to accomplish an object, 
wishing alone will not effect it; he must think how to 
do it; and in thinking, he uses his understanding; 
and in proportion to the degree of truth or know- 
ledge he may have in his mind in regard to the object 
he desires to accomplish, will be the degree of his 
success. It may thus be seen what is meant by its 
being said that Divine Love produces nothing but in 
conjunction with Divine Truth. This is the meaning 
of the passage in John, " In the beginning was the 
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word 
was God. All things were made by him (or by it as 
it should rather be translated, that is, by the Word,) 
and without it was nol anything made that was 
made." * Here, the two Divine Principles of Love 
and Truth are signified by God and the Word, " God" 
* John i. 1—3. 



HONOR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER. 89 



here, signifying the Divine Love, and "the Word," 
Divine Truth, That Love created the universe by 
means of Truth, and not without, is meant by the 
words, "and without it," (that is, without the Word,) 
"was not anything made that was made" 

We thus see, that Love and Truth, or what is the 
same. Goodness and Truth, are, as it were, the Father 
and Mother of all things. Love is the begetting 
principle, and Truth is the producing principle : by 
both conjoined is effected the work of creation. 

But this truth may be seen still more distinctly, in 
the new creation or regeneration of man. The Lord, 
from his Divine love, is ever desiring to regenerate 
man, in order that he may be happy in heaven for- 
ever ; yet that regeneration cannot be effected but by 
means of truth. The Lord's life, that is, his Divine 
love, is ever flowing into man, but, unless it find truth 
in his mind> to make use of as an instrument, it cannot 
effect his conversion and regeneration. Hence the 
Divine Word is given, which contains the needful 
truth, through which, as a means, the Divine .love 
can act on the spirit. "Truth," says the Psalmist, 
"springs out of the earth, and righteousness looks down 
from heaven."* Here by "the earth" is signified the 
natural mind or memory, in which have been Stored 
up truths from the Divine Word, during the days of 
childhood. The Lord's " righteousness" or love flow- 
ing down from heaven, meets this truth so stored up, 
and fills it with life — rouses it to action. When 
temptation presents itself to the young man, the Lord' s 
* Ps. lxxxv. 11, 



90 



THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT: 



ever watchful love, seizing, as it were, the truth as a 
weapon, fights with the tempter and drives him away. 
Man is, indeed, required to do this as of himself, yet 
it is the Lord's love that prompts him to do it. Is 
the temptation presented, to deceive or defraud in 
business, the Lord rouses the truth in the mind, 
" Thou shalt not steal ; " and then, conscience- stricken, 
the young man resists the temptation, and compels 
himself to act honestly. Thus is the evil inclina- 
tion removed. So in all other cases; and it is in 
this way that man's new creation or regeneration is, 
little by little, effected. Love and truth conjoined 
are, as it were, the Father and Mother of the new- 
born soul. 

This understood, we may now see the meaning of 
the command to honor father and mother, in the 
spiritual sense of those words ; that is, to love Goodness 
and Truth above all things. For these, as before said, 
are the parents of the regenerate spirit : by these, and 
these alone, can man attain a state of heavenly order, 
and thereby of heavenly happiness. Truth he should 
prize as the most precious of treasures; for it is the 
means through which the Lord's love can act upon 
him, to purify and perfect him, and enable him to 
overcome temptation. He should therefore study the 
Divine Word regularly and carefully, and lay up in 
his memory those truths, which may be as weapons in 
his spiritual armory, whereby he may be ever armed 
for the combat. And he should at the same time look 
up daily in prayer to the Lord, that his mind may be 
kept open to the influx of His love and goodness, that 



HONOR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER. 91 

so the two may be conjoined within him, and accom- 
plish his regeneration. 

And now, let us consider the celestial sense of this 
Commandment. By Father and Mother, in the 
celestial sense, are signified the Lord and the Church. 

That the Lord Jesus Christ, and He alone, is our 
Divine Father, both naturally and spiritually, is clearly 
taught in the Word, and on a little reflection will be 
made manifest. In the Old Testament, where the 
prophecy is uttered concerning the Lord's coming into 
the world, the Being about to be born is expressly 
called "Father." Thus : "Unto us a child is born, unto 
us a Son is given; and His name shall be called Won- 
derful, Counselor, the Mighty Cod, the Everlasting 
Father."* Here the Son is declared to be also the 
Father, because Jehovah, the Father, incarnated 
Himself in the Son : J esus Christ was simply Jehovah 
in a human form, — the expression, Son, meaning the 
humanity which J ehovah assumed. Hence, also, when 
Jesus appeared, he declared Himself to be one with 
"the Father:" "the Father," said he, "dwelleth in 
me;" "He that seeth me, seeth the Father "I and 
the Father are one." J And after his resurrection, " he 
ascended to the Father," as he expressed it, that is, 
the human became completely united to the Divine, 
the Son to the Father, so as to form one Person, 
Jehovah Jesus. And He it is, who is our Creator, 
that is, our Divine Father naturally, and also our 
Regenerator, that is, our Father spiritually; for it is 
* Isa. ix. 6. f John xiv. 9, 10. J x. 30. 



THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT: 



from him that we are begotten anew, and thus become 
truly the " sons of God." Thus Jesus Christ is the one 
and only Lord and Father of all. 

But now, in the next place, if the Lord is our 
Father, then the Church is our Mother ; for the Church 
is called, in Scripture, the Lord's Bride and Wife. The 
Church is our Mother, because she spiritually nourishes 
and feeds us: she is our mother in the same sense in which 
it was shown before that Divine Truth is our mother. 
In explaining the spiritual sense of this Command- 
ment, it was shown that Love or Good is our spiritual 
Father, and Truth our spiritual mother ; for it is only 
from these united that we are born anew or regen- 
erated. So the Church is our Mother, because by the 
Church is meant a System of Doctrinal Truth, revealed 
from the Lord. By the Church, in a true sense, is not 
meant merely a building or place of worship ; nor does 
it mean merely an external institution, or a system or 
forms and ceremonies by which worship is conducted : 
nor does it mean the persons who compose the outward 
and visible body of members. These are not the Lord's 
Bride : the Lord is not wedded to these, any further 
than they are in genuine goodness and truth : and how 
far that may be, is known to the Lord alone : visible 
membership does not necessarily constitute true mem- 
bership : a man may seem to be a part of the church, 
who is no part truly in the Lord's sight : he may be, 
as to his spirit, among the wicked, a hypocrite. None 
of these things then constitute the true Church of the 
Lord. By the Church Proper is meant the System of 
Doctrinal Truth revealed from the Lord out of heaven. 



HONOR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER. 93 

This is declared in the Apocalypse : " I saw," says John, 
"the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from 
God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for 
her husband." "Come," said the angel, "I will show 
thee the bride, the Lamb's wife; and he carried me 
away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and 
showed me that great city, the Holy Jerusalem, 
descending from God out of heaven."* Thus, it was 
the City that was the Lord's Bride : now, a city 
signifies the Church as to Doctrine: hence, then, by 
the Church, our spiritual Mother, is signified the 
System of Doctrinal Truth, revealed from the Lord out 
of heaven. And by the command to honor it, that 
is, to respect and love it, is meant that we are to prize 
the Doctrines of the New Church, as the great means 
of our regeneration; that we are to love these truths, 
study them, and take heed to them in our lives and 
conduct. This is to honor our Mother. And to honor 
our Father, is to worship the Lord Jesus Christ, in his 
Divine Humanity, as the one God of heaven and earth. 

And now, in conclusion, we have to consider the 
promise appended to this Commandment, — the reward 
that is held up as a motive for obedience to it : — " That 
thy days may be prolonged upon the land which the 
Lord thy God giveth thee." To the Israelites, who 
understood this Commandment only in its litei-al sense, 
the land here mentioned meant the land of Canaan. 
But by the land of Canaan, in the spiritual sense, is 
signified heaven, the Lord's Kingdom ; and by the 
prolongation of days there is signified eternal life in 
* Rev. xxi, 2, 9, 10. 



94 



THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT I 



heaven, with its felicities. This is the reward promised 
to those who keep this Commandment in all its senses, 
natural, spiritual, and celestial; that is, who respect 
and cherish their natural parents, who love goodness 
and truth, and who worship the Lord and prize and 
practise the Doctrines of His Church. 

Observe that this is the only Commandment to 
which this promise is expressly attached ; — and the 
reason probably is, that in its internal sense this 
Commandment is so comprehensive in its scope. He 
who loves goodness and truth above all worldly things, 
— who worships the Lord and cherishes and practises 
the truths of the Church, cannot but be in a good and 
heavenly state of mind, and therefore cannot but come 
into heaven hereafter. 

In the pure spiritual sense, by having our days pro- 
longed is signified eternal increase of goodness, because 
days signify states, and length is predicated of good- 
ness. In Scripture, length and breadth, like all other 
natural terms, have a spiritual signification. As there 
is no length and breadth with the spirit, those terms, 
when applied to what is spiritual, describe states of 
mind, the former having relation to goodness, and the 
latter to truth. So, as there are not times with the 
spirit, but states, days signify states, ' ft length of days" 
signifies goodness of state, and " prolongation of days" 
ever-increasing goodness of state. 

And think what it is to have our days prolonged in 
the heavenly Canaan ! think what it is to dwell in 
heaven forever, eternally advancing in goodness and 
happiness ! This life of threescore years and ten seems 



HONOR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER. 95 

long, and most people appear to enjoy it, beset as it is 
with sicknesses and sorrows, with cares and anxieties, 
with temptations and trials. Think what it will be to 
reach the land of perfect peace — where no trials come, 
nor pains of body or of mind, where the skies are ever 
fair, and the palaces ever gleaming, and the paradises 
ever blooming; where love binds friends together in 
eternal union ; where are the most delightful consocia- 
tions, ever varying, ever charming; where a succession of 
pleasant duties just keeps the mind agreeably occupied, 
but never wearied; where joy, gushing out from the 
heart's fountains, pours its glowing flood over all things, 
creates lovely scenery around, and images itself in 
objects ever beautiful, ever new; where heart meets 
heart, and the mutual communication of all delights 
makes life a continual rapture. And this happy state 
to endure forever, and always increasing in excellence 
and in joy! Is this not worth laboring for, during our 
few years here? Is it not worth while striving to be 
good, when goodness is to bring eternal happiness? 
Is it not worth while endeavoring to overcome our 
evils, when those eviis are the only barriers to our 
entrance on these joys 1 In a few years, we shall be 
gone from this scene, and have entered the eternal 
world: then, if we have kept the Divine Command- 
ments — if we have spiritually honored our father and 
mother — if we have striven to do the Lord's will — we 
shall hear the joyful words, "Well done! good and 
faithful servant; thou hast been faithful in a few 
things, I will set thee over many things; enter thou 
into the joy of thy Lord." 



SERMON VIII. 



THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT : THOU SHALT NOT KILL. 

" Thou shalt not kill."— Exodus xx. 13. 

In regard to this Commandment, the Doctrine of 
the New Church thus teaches : " By the command- 
ment, ' Thou shalt not kill] is meant, in the natural 
sense, not to kill a man, and not to inflict on him any 
wound of which he may die, and also not to mutilate 
his body ; and moreover, not to bring any deadly evil 
upon his name and fame, since fame and life, with 
many, go hand in hand. In a wider natural sense, 
by murders are meant enmity, hatred, and revenge, 
which breathe death ; for murder lies concealed within 
them : they are murders in intention, if not in act." 
Let us consider this commandment, in these various 
significations of its natural sense, and afterwards let us 
inquire into its spiritual sense. 

To kill — to take away a man's life, which God gave 
him — to cut and wound a form which the great Creator 
made, so that the spirit can no longer dwell in it, 
but flies from it terrified, as it were, into the spiritual 
world, leaving it bleeding on the ground — Oh ! what a 
crime is this ! What deadly and infernal passion in a 
man's heart, can cause him to do such a thing to his 



THOU SHALT NOT KILL. 



07 



fellow-man 1 how dares lie raise his hand against one 
of God's works, and mar it so ? how dares he thus 
destroy what he did not make, and can never restore ? 
Whence comes the spirit that can prompt a man to 
commit so horrid a crime as to kill his fellow-man i 
Men were created to love each other, and do good to 
each other, and make each other happy. How can 
they, then, so pervert the purpose of their being, as to 
hurt and kill one another? Ah! man's heart, man's 
heart ! how black a thing it is ! how changed has it 
become, since it first left its Creator's hands, beautiful 
and pure ! 

The crime of murder, deliberate murder, is the most 
horrid of all crimes. It is the deepest of evils, and, 
indeed, includes within it all others: nay, it is the 
very principle of evil itself, in form and in act. For 
evil is that which is opposite to goodness, and to God 
who is goodness itself. Now, the spirit of murder is 
God's exact opposite; for it is the nature of God to 
create, and then to bless that which is created : it is 
the nature of the murderer to hurt that which exists, 
and if possible to destroy its very existence. Thus 
they are exactly opposite. The principle of evil is in 
its very nature murderous ; and therefore it is, that in 
the Scriptures it is said, "the devil was a murderer 
from the beginning:" "the devil" signifying the 
principle of eyil itself, and "from the beginning" 
meaning from inmost principles. When God, then, 
from the top of Sinai, spake the command, " Thou 
shalt not kill" — in those words, taken in their broadest 
sense, he forbad all evil; for, as just shown, evil is, in 
Q 



3 

98 THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT: 

its very nature, of a destructive and murderous ten- 
dency : and when God speaks, there is a meaning in 
His words, which penetrates to the very essences of 
things; and therefore it is, that in the whole Word of 
God, there is a spiritual sense, deeper than that which 
appears in the letter. But this we shall see more 
clearly, when we come to treat of the spiritual sense of 
this Commandment. 

He, then, who commits deliberate and malicious 
murder, plunges himself into the lowest hell: he 
settles himself down among the very foundations of 
evil — and there he is fixed for ever. When such a 
man, therefore, from his execution-scaffold, speaks to a 
gazing crowd, and, for a show, makes an apparently 
humble, but in secret, perhaps, a boasting confession of 
his crimes, (for a man may come to such a perverted 
state as to be even proud of crimes,) — and ends with 
making a formal profession of repentance for the course 
of his past life — we should be slow to believe that 
repentance sincere. When a man's life has been spent 
in sin, a death-bed repentance can be of but little 
avail. It can hardly be a genuine repentance. A 
man is not himself at such a time: He is acting under 
the influence of temporary external feelings, which 
play over the surface of his heart, while all the centre is 
a black mass of evil and corruption. His state is like 
that of one who, while lying on a bed of sickness, 
grieves over his past sins, and promises to himself, and 
to others, and to God, amendment in the time to come ; 
but restore him to health, and let him go forth, and see 
how he will return to his loved evils again ! So, the 



THOU SHALT NOT KILL. 



99 



murderer, in his dungeon, or on the scaffold, may 
loudly profess repentance, and even shed tears ; but 
cast off his chains, and let him go free, and mark how 
soon the tears will be dried from his eyes, and the 
deadly fire of the destroyer be kindled there again. 

These remarks are made, in connection with the 
subjectlof the text, — the nature of the crime of murder, 
— for the purpose of aiding us in forming correct 
views on an important subject; and to remove a false 
sympathy and mistaken charity, which tend to en- 
courage crime. Pity, indeed, we may feel — for none 
are so much to be pitied as the wicked, for their state 
is wretched indeed : but we must not suffer feelings to 
blind our eyes to the truth. We must have pity, too, 
for the victims of the cruel murderer, and for those 
who are in danger of becoming such. I may add to 
this, that I consider the publication and circulation of 
murderers' confessions, as one of the most powerful 
instruments in the hands of the infernals, for increas- 
ing the number of their evil company : and such publi- 
cations should be as far as possible suppressed and 
burnt by every lover of men's souls: they tend to 
familiarize the mind with crime. 

There is another way, in which this Commandment 
is broken, which may be alluded to, in passing. I 
refer to the practice of duelling. How this criminal 
custom has been so long tolerated in a Christian 
community, it is hard to understand; — a custom, which 
stands up in defiance of one of the chief commands of 
the Most High God— "Thou shalt not kill." It shows, 
though men may profess a belief in the truth of God's 



100 



THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT: 



Word, how far they are from feeling and obeying its 
precepts. It shows, indeed, a depraved state of society; 
it shows that there is a murderous spirit in the midst 
of us, when a man, for some trifling offence offered to 
his honor (as it is termed) is ready to stand before 
another, and coolly point at his breast the weapon of 
death. What spirit is it which glares in hjs eye? 
Is it not the murderer's? Is it not the spirit of 
revenge even unto death 1 ? And does it matter, in 
God's sight, that he is arrayed in an elegant garb, or 
that he stands respectably before the world ? It is 
written, " Man looketlj on the outward appearance, 
but the Lord looketh on the heart." Before the 
Divine Eye, that man appears as he is in spirit : and 
he will go to his place, hereafter, accordingly. 

But let us proceed now to consider the other signifi- 
cations of this Commandment. It may seem, perhaps, 
at the first thought, that the precept, "Thou shalt not 
kill," has but little to do with us ; that we are in- very 
little danger of breaking it; that the inclination to 
the commission of such a crime is far from our hearts, 
and the very thought of it abhorrent to our minds. 
Ha ! is it so 1 Perhaps we do not know ourselves. 
Bemember what the Divine Word declares — that "the 
heart is deceitful above all things, 'and desperately 
wicked." Have we never broken this Commandment? 
How many of us are there, think you, that have not 
broken it ? Let us inquire into the full meaning of 
the Command, and we shall then be able to answer 
this question to ourselves. 

We all understand well, that it is not merely the 



THOU SHALT NOT KILL. 



101 



act which constitutes a crime, but, in the sight of the 
Lord, the intention to commit the act is sufficient ; nor 
is it necessary that there should be a conscious intention 
in the thought ; but the existence of that spirit, that 
feeling in the heart, which may, if carried out, lead to 
the intention, and finally to the act, — this is sufficient 
to constitute the crime, for it is the very essence of the 
crime— and that essence has only to clothe itself with 
a form, and the crime is complete — the deed is done. 
He, therefore, who has in his heart the spirit of 
murder — though, in this world, regard for appearances, 
fear of the law, a habit of self-command, and a variety 
of external restraints, may operate to prevent him from 
committing, or even intending or thinking of the act 
itself — yet, in the spiritual world, after death, where 
all such external bonds and restraints are cast off, — 
where feelings instantly assume a corresponding external 
form, — where, in a word, the man acts himself fully 
out, — there, that man will be seen to act the murderer, 
or at least, to endeavor to do so. Thus may it be seen, 
that it is the spirit of murder, which constitutes in 
reality, and in the Lord's sight, the crime itself. 

And now let us inquire, what is the spirit of murder 
— what constitutes it ? Let us hear the Doctrine of 
the New Church on this point. Itjs as follows : " The 
spiritual moral sense of this Commandment, 'Thou 
shalt not kill,' is, that thou shalt not hate thy brother 
or thy neighbor, and thence not treat him with con- 
tumely and ignominy, for thus you injure and kill his 
fame and honor, from which is his life amongst his 
brethren, which is called the civil life; whence he will 



102 



THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT: 



afterwards live in society as it were dead, being num- 
bered amongst the vile and wicked, with whom no one 
will hold intercourse. This, when it is done from 
enmity, hatred, or revenge, is homicide or murder ; 
for the civil life proceeds and is estimated by many in 
the world, in a like degree with the life of the body; 
and he who kills or destroys it, is also as guilty before 
the angels in the heavens, as if he had killed his brother 
or neighbor as to the life of the body. For enmity, 
hatred, and revenge breathe murder, and will it, but 
are restrained and curbed by the fear of the law, of 
resistance, and of reputation : nevertheless, they are 
an effort to murder, and all effort is as it were an act, 
for it goes forth into act when fear is removed. 
These things are what the Lord teaches in Matthew,* 
'Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, 
Thou shalt not kill, and whosoever shall kill, shall be 
in danger of the judgment : but I say unto you, that 
whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause 
[or rashly, as it should be translated] shall be in danger 
of the judgment ; and whosoever shall say to his brother, 
Raca [which signifies wretch or miscreant], shall be in 
danger of the council ; but whosoever shall say, Thou 
fool, shall be in danger of hell-fire.' "t , From this pas- 
sage we may learn, what it is that constitutes the 
spirit of murder : — it is " enmity, hatred, and revenge;" 
— any feeling, that leads us to injure our neighbor in 
reputation, character, or in any other way. And we 
see from these the Lord's own words, what He meant 
by His Commandment, "Thou shalt not kill" (for it 
* v. 21, 22. + Apocalypse Explained, n. 1012. 



THOU SHALT NOT KILL. 



103 



was the same God, who spoke that commandment from 
Mount Sinai, that now stood there, clothed with 
Humanity, explaining it to the Jews and to the 
world). He there shows, that to kill is not merely to 
commit the outward act — but even to be angry with 
our brother or neighbor, and to have in our hearts that 
spirit which causes us to utter violent, malicious, and 
bitter words against him. Thus, we perceive, that the 
essential spirit of murder is hatred ; and he, therefore, 
who cherishes or indulges within himself a feeling of 
hatred, malice, or bitterness towards any one, is just 
in that degree breaking .this commandment — and 
though he may be unconscious of it now, he will know 
it after death. 

On the subject of hatred, the Doctrine of the New 
Church thus speaks : " Hatred has in itself a fire, which 
is the effort of killing man : that fire is manifested by 
anger." " Inasmuch as hatred, which consists in 
wishing to kill, is opposite to love to the Lord, and 
also to love towards the neighbor, and these latter 
loves make heaven with man, it is manifest that 
hatred, being thus opposite, makes hell with him. 
Nor is the infernal fire anything else but hatred : 
wherefore, also, the hells appear las in a fire of 
dusky red, according to the quality and quantity 
of the hatred, and in a fire of dusky flame, accord- 
ing to the quantity and quality of the revenge arising 
from hatred." And now we may inquire, who of 
us are influenced by the spirit of hatred, or in 
danger of being so influenced. The Doctrine 
answers this question. It thus continues : "Every 



104 



THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT 3 



man is hereditarily influenced by hatred against his 
neighbor: for every man is born into the love of 
self and of the world; wherefore he conceives hatred, 
and is from it inflamed against all who are not at one 
with him, and do not favor him, especially against 
those who oppose his evil inclinations."* 

Understanding these things, our eyes will be now 
open to the danger we are all in, of breaking the 
Commandment, "Thou shalt not kill." For, as before 
shown, he breaks it who cherishes feelings of hatred ; 
and we are all inclined by nature to such feelings, 
because we are all born with self-love in our hearts — 
and self-love is essential hatred. Just in the degree 
that a person loves himself, just in that degree he 
despises and hates his neighbor. This hatred does not 
generally appear either to ourselves or others : it lies 
still at the bottom of the heart, like a tiger in his den. 
We seem to entertain a kindly feeling enough towards 
people. But only let some provocation, some opposi- 
tion be offered, which touches our self-love — and that 
tiger spirit springs forth in an instant, and glares 
through the eyes, and throws blood into the face, and 
bursts forth from the. lips. Ah! is not "the heart 
of man deceitful above all things, -and desperately 
wicked" ? It is only because men do not study them- 
selves, that they have no idea how evil their nature is. 
But they will know in the next world : there all these 
things will be brought out; there the heart will be laid 
bare, and, as it were, be held up to view. But, alas ! 
it will then be too late to change it. The only safe 
* Ap. Ex., n. 1015—16. 



THOU SHALT NOT KILL, 



105 



course is, to look to these things now, while we yet 
live in this world — to watch ourselves carefully, to 
examine ourselves, and discover our evils, — and then 
looking to the Lord for help, to struggle against them. 
So only can they be removed, and cast out of our hearts. 
And then, when we enter the next world, and are 
judged, and the interiors of our spirits are examined, 
lo ! they will be bright and clean, and we shall be 
pronounced worthy to associate with " the spirits of 
just men made perfect," who have gone before. 

But let us now turn to the spiritual sense of this 
Commandment ; and by understanding that, we shall 
be enabled to reach the essential principle of the spirit 
of murder. All parts of the Divine Word have a 
spiritual sense within that of the letter, and in that 
spiritual sense, chiefly, its Divinity lies. This spiritual 
sense never has allusion to anything in the natural 
world, for it is intended for the use of spiritual beings, 
the angels of heaven, and for men who are becoming 
angels. For the Word of God is in heaven, as well as 
on earth: as it is written in the Psalms, "Forever 
O Lord, thy Word is settled in heaven."* In the 
spiritual sense, therefore, the Commandment, "Thou 
shalt not kill," has no reference to the destruction of 
man's body, for that is natural: but it refers to the 
destruction of his soul, which is spiritual. This 
Commandment, then, understood in the spiritual sense, 
forbids the doing of anything that tends to kill or 
destroy men's souls. To kill a man's soul is to deprive 
* Ps. cxix. 89. 



106 



THE FIFTH COMMAlfDMENT : 



it of heavenly life, which consists in goodness and 
truth, and to bring it into a state of spiritual death, 
which is a state of falsity and evil, — the state of those 
who are "dead in trespasses and sins/' To do this, is 
to commit spiritual murder, which, in its effects, is as 
much more hurtful than natural murder, as the soul is 
more precious than the body. If a murderer kill a man's 
body, — though he will injure himself by that wicked 
deed, yet, under the Lord's good providence, he may do 
his victim little real harm ; for if the sufferer be a good 
man, his soul but takes its flight a little sooner to 
heaven. But he who kills a man's soul, destroys his 
happiness forever. 

The means of killing men's souls are in any way to 
inspire into them evil thoughts and feelings, or to 
teach them false principles which will finally lead to 
evil, or to do anything which has a tendency to pro- 
duce these results. A man is guilty of this sin. who 
wantonlyand maliciously writes or talks against religion 
and the "Word of God; for these are the means by 
which men's souls are saved and led to heaven. A 
bookseller, who sells bad books, is a criminal in this 
sense (and men of that class, it may be observed, have a 
great responsibility upon them); so also is the printer, 
and above all the writer of such books. And a man, 
who sells any article, the direct tendency of which is 
to lead men into evil habits, and thus injure their 
souls, is guilty of breaking this Commandment. And 
in general, bad men — men, who give themselves up, 
without restraint, to the indulgence of their evil 
inclinations — are in heart spiritual murderers ; for they 



THOU SHALT NOT KILL. 



107 



are consociated, as to their spirits, -with hell — with that 
Evil One, who " was a murderer from the beginning." 
On this point, the Doctrine of the New Church thus 
speaks : " All who are in evils as to life, and thence in 
falses, are homicides or murderers, for they are enemies 
and haters of goodness and truth ; for evil hates good 
and the false hates truth : but an evil man does not 
know that he is in such hatred, till he becomes a spirit ; 
in which case hatred is the very delight of his life. 
"Wherefore from hell, where all the evil are, there 
constantly exhales a delight of doing evil from hatred ; 
but from heaven, where all the good are, there con- 
stantly exhales a delight of doing good from love. 
Hence two opposite spheres meet each other in the 
midst between heaven and hell, and combat each other. 
In this mid-region, is man, as to his spirit, while he 
lives in the world. If he is then in evil, and thence 
in falses, he goes over to the side of hell, and thence 
comes into the delight of doing evil from hatred : but 
if he is in good, and thence in truths, he goes over to 
the side of heaven, and thence comes into the delight 
of doing good from love. The delight of doing evil 
from hatred, which exhales from hell, is the delight of 
killing : but because they cannot kill the body, they 
wish to kill the spirit, and to kill the spirit is to 
deprive it of spiritual life, which is the life of heaven. 
From these considerations, it is manifest, that the 
precept, 1 Thou shalt not kill,' involves also that thou 
shalt not hate thy neighbor, likewise that thou shalt 
not hate the good of the church, and its truth ; for 
lie who hates goodness and truth hates his neigh- 



108 



THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT: 



bor, and to hate is to wish to kill. Hence it is, that 
the devil, by whom is understood hell in its whole 
complex, is called by the Lord, ' a murderer from the 
beginning.' "* 

And now, in the last place, — we may refer briefly 
to the celestial sense of this Commandment, which is 
the highest sense. This sense always treats of the 
Lord Himself; for the Lord is the very centre and 
essence of his Word — for he is the Word. To kill, 
in this sense, " is to be angry with, and hate the Lord, 
and to wish to blot out his name." Here is the very 
essential principle of the spirit of murder, and its foun- 
tain. For the desire to kill a man's body is derived, 
though perhaps unconsciously, from a still deeper desire 
to kill his soul : and that desire springs from hatred to 
that principle which is the very life of the soul, 
namely, goodness : and goodness is from the Lord, and 
is indeed the Lord Himself in men's souls. This 
hatred against the Lord is inherent in the very nature 
of evil; and all bad men have it within their hearts, 
though they may not be aware of it while in this 
world : but after death, it w^ll burst forth, and show 
itself. Indeed, it sometimes manifests itself even 
here; it is from this cause that wicked men delight 
to swear, and blaspheme, and take God's name in 
vain. And once it has shown itself in dreadful act 
— when the Jews crucified the Lord of Glory ; and 
all bad men continually " crucify him afresh " in 
their hearis. 



Such, in conclusion, are the various and extensive 




* Ap. Ex., n. 1014. 



THOU SHALT NOT KILL. 



109 



significations of the Commandment, " Thou shalt not 
kill." May we seriously reflect on them — examine 
ourselves to see whether this evil exists in our hearts 
in any of its forms ; and then earnestly strive against 
it, looking to the Lord and Savior for help. 



SERMON IX 



THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT: THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT 
ADULTERY. 

"Thou shalt not commit adultery." — Exodus xx. 14. 

" This Commandment, in its natural or literal sense," 
says the New Church Doctrine, " forbids not only the 
commission of adultery, but also all obscene inclina- 
tions and actions, all lascivious thoughts and words. 
That lust itself is adultery, is plain from these words 
of the Lord : ' Ye have heard that it was said by those 
of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery; but I 
say unto you, that whosoever looks on a woman to lust 
after her, has committed adultery with her already in 
his heart.' The reason is, lust cherished in the will is 
the same as the deed : allurement enters only into the 
understanding, but intention enters into the will : and 
the intention of lust is the same as the deed itself."* 

"The evil of adultery," continues -the Doctrine of 
the church, " denies the internals of the mind above 
every other evil. Who may not know from reason, 
that unchasteness and lasciviousness are impure and 
unclean, and thus that nothing more deeply pollutes 
man and induces in him what is infernal ?" t 

* True Christian Religion, n. 313. f Conjugial Love, n. 477. 



THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY. Ill 



" How profane and detestable adultery is, may be 
seen from the holiness of marriage. The delight of 
adultery," says the Doctrine of the Church, "is hell 
with man, as the delight of marriage is heaven with him : 
consequently, in proportion as man is in the one 
delight, in the same proportion he is not in the other. 
Who at this day believes that the love of adultery is 
the fundamental of all diabolical and infernal loves, as 
the chaste love of marriage is the fundamental of all 
heavenly and Divine loves ; consequently, that in pro- 
portion as man is in the love of adultery, in the same 
proportion he is in every evil love, if not in act, yet in 
effort? and, on the other hand, in proportion as man is 
in the chaste love of marriage, in the same proportion he 
is in every good love, if not in act, yet in effort ? Who at 
this day believes, that he who is in the love of adultery 
does not believe anythiDg of the Word, consequently, 
not anything of the Church, yea, that in his heart he 
denies a God? and on the other hand, that he who is in 
the chaste love of marriage, is in charity and faith, 
and in love to God ; also, that the chastity of marriage 
makes one with religion, and the lasciviousness of 
adultery makes one with naturalism? The reason 
why these things are at this day unknown, is, because 
the church is at its end, and devastated as to truth 
and as to good; and when the church is such, then 
the man of the church, by an influx from hell, comes 
into the persuasion that adulteries are not detestable 
and abominable; and hence he comes into the belief 
that marriages do not differ from adulteries in -their 
essence, but only as to outward order ; when yet the 



112 THE SIXTH commandment: 

difference between, them is such as the difference is 
between heaven and hell. Hence it is, that, in the 
Word, in its spiritual sense, heaven and the Church are 
signified by nuptials and marriages, and- that hell and 
the rejection of all things of the Church are signified by 
adulteries and whoredoms." * 

There are few things more striking in the Doctrines 
of the New Church, than the elevated view which they 
present of the nature of marriage. They show that 
true marriage has its origin in the conjunction of 
goodness and truth in the mind. Now, the conjunction 
of goodness and truth is what constitutes heaven : con- 
sequently, true marriage has its origin in heaven. 
Hence, in the Scriptures, particularly in the Gospels, 
heaven is frequently compared to a marriage. For 
instance, in the twenty -second chapter of Matthew, 
one of the Lord's parables commences with the words, 
" The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king, who 
made a marriage for his son." Here by the marriage 
of the king's son, is represented the union of the Lord 
with the Church; the king's son signifying the Lord 
in his Divine Humanity; for the Son signifies the 
Humanity, as by the Father is signified the essential 
Divinity, — both in the Lord. So, in the twenty-first 
chapter of the Apocalypse, the New .Jerusalem, that 
is, the New Church, is called the Lamb's Bride and 
Wife : the Lamb, here, signifying the same as the 
Son in the parable, namely the Divine Humanity; 
for it is this to which the church is wedded ; that 
is, the true church is to worship the Lord in His 
* Apocalypse Explained, n. 981. 



THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY. 113 



Divine Humanity : so will it be his true Bride, and 
be united to hiiii. 

Thus we see that marriage, in its highest representa- 
tion, typifies the union or conjunction of the Lord and 
the Church. In a secondary sense, it represents the 
conjunction of goodness and truth in the mind ; and 
this conjunction, as before said, is heaven. But these 
two representations of marriage are, in fact, one and 
the same ; for in proportion as the man of the church 
worships the Lord in his Divine Humanity, and at the 
same time does his commandments, there is effected in 
his mind the conjunction of goodness and truth, which 
is heaven within him. And it is effected in this man- 
ner: — The man of the church learns truth from the 
Divine Word, and strives to put it into practice ; and in 
proportion as he does so, the Lord sends down good into 
that truth, and gives it life and makes it spiritual 
and celestial. Thus is effected the conjunction of 
goodness and truth with man, and in the degree this 
conjunction is effected, he comes into a heavenly state 
of mind ; he enjoys something of the peace of heaven 
even here, and is preparing to enjoy it fully hereafter. 

In like manner, in the parable of the ten virgins, * 
we find the Lord again called a bridegroom, and heaven 
compared to a marriage. We read in that parable, that 
five of those virgins had oil in their lamps and five had 
none. By the ten virgins are represented all the pro- 
fessed members of the church : by those that had oil 
in their lamps, are signified such members of the church 
as have good as well as truth ; while by those who had 
* Matt. xxv. 
H 



114 THE sixth commandment: 

lamps but no oil are signified such as have the know- 
ledge of truth, but no good of life adjoined to it, for oil 
signifies good or love. " At midnight there was a cry 
made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh." This signifies 
the coming of the Lord to judgment — and individually 
each one's particular judgment at death. " And those 
that were ready went in with him to the marriage :" 
that is, those who are found to have their lamps burn- 
ing brightly from the oil in them, — in other words, 
whose souls are full of heavenly light from the con- 
junction of goodness with truth in their minds are 
received into heaven and happiness eternal. 

We here see that heaven itself is represented in the 
Word by marriage, and, in fact, is so called. Hence 
may be seen the essential holiness of true marriage. On 
this subject the Doctrine of the New Church thus 
further speaks : " Marriage in the heavens is the con- 
junction of two into one mind. Mind consists of two 
parts, one of which is called understanding, and the 
other, will : when these two parts act in unity, they 
are called one mind. In this mind, the husband acts 
that part which is called the understanding, and the 
wife that which is called the will. When this conjunc- 
tion, which is in the interiors, descends into the 
inferior principles which are of the body, it is perceived 
and felt as love, which is conjugial love. From which 
considerations it is evident that conjugial love has its 
origin in the conjunction of two into one mind. In 
proportion as two conjugial partners are in such con- 
junction, so far they are in conjugial love, and at the 
same time so far in intelligence, wisdom, and happiness. 



THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY. 115 

For Divine good and Divine truth, from which all 
intelligence, wisdom, and happiness are derived, flow 
principally into conjugial love ; consequently con- 
jugial love is the very plane itself of the Divine influx. 
The reason is, because conjugial love descends, as 
before said, from the conjunction of good and truth ; 
and the conjunction of good and truth has its origin in 
the Divine love of the Lord towards all who are in the 
heavens and on earth. From Divine love proceeds 
Divine good, and Divine good is received by angels 
and men in Divine truths, truth being the only 
receptacle of good : wherefore nothing from the Lord 
and from heaven can be received by any one who is 
not in truths. So far, then, as the truths pertaining 
to man are conjoined to good, so far man is conjoined 
to the Lord and to heaven. Hence is the origin of 
conjugial love ; wherefore it is the very plane of the 
Divine influx. And hence it is, that the conjunction of 
good and truth in the heavens is called the heavenly 
marriage ; and that heaven, in the Word, is compared 
to a marriage, and is also called a marriage, and that 
the Lord is called the Bridegroom and Husband, and 
heaven, with the church, is called the bride and 
wife."* 

From this view, now, of the holiness of marriage, 
and of its Divine and heavenly origin, may be seen, 
by contrast, the detestable and abominable nature of 
adultery, and why it is said, that as the chaste love of 
marriage is heaven with man, so the love of adultery 
is hell with him. "As soon as a man commits 
* Treatise on Heaven and Hell, n. 367, 370, 371. 



♦ 



116 THE SIXTH COililAXDMKS T : 

adultery,'' says the New Church Doctrine, "heaven is 
closed to hiin." * " It has been shown me," continues 
our author, "in what manner the delights of conjugial 
love advance towards heaven, and the delights of 
adultery towards hell. The advance of the delights of 
conjugial love towards heaven was into blessednesses 
continually increasing in number, till they became 
innumerable and ineffable ; and as they advanced more 
interiorly into what were more innumerable and in- 
effable, they reached even to the very blessednesses 
and happinesses of the inmost heaven, or the heaven of 
innocence ; and this by a principle of the most perfect 
freedom ; for all freedom is from love, and thus the 
most perfect freedom is from conjugial love, which is 
heavenly love itself. But, on the other hand, the 
advance of adultery was towards hell, and by degrees 
to the lowest hell, where there is nothing but what is 
direful and horrible : such a lot awaits adulterers after 
their life in the world." It is added, " By adulterers 
are meant such as perceive delight in adulteries and no 
delight in marriage." f 

Prom this representation of the infernal nature of 
adultery, may be seen- the sinfulness of every thought 
or feeling that tends towards it, as the indulgence of 
any disorderly passions or inclinations, which may by 
possibility lead to such a criminal result. It is not 
merely in the act, as before shown, that the essence of 
the sin consists, but in the indulgence of evil thoughts 
and inclinations. "By committing adultery," says 
the Doctrine of the New Church, "is meant to be 
* H. and H., n. 3S4. + Ibid., n. 386. 



THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY. 



117 



guilty of obscene practices, wanton discourse, or lewd 
thoughts." * 

And now let us turn to the consideration of the 
spiritual sense of this Commandment. 

" By committing adultery, in the spiritual sense," 
says the New Church Doctrine, " is meant to adulterate 
the good of the Word, and to falsify its truth : and in 
the celestial sense, to deny the holiness of the Word, 
and to profane it. That this, also, is meant by com- 
mitting adultery, has been hitherto unknown, because 
the spiritual sense of the Word has been heretofore 
concealed. But that this is the true meaning, in the 
Word, of committing adultery and whoredom, is very 
manifest from many passages. For instance, the fol- 
lowing : — { Bun to and fro through the streets of 
Jerusalem, and see if ye can find a man that doeth 
judgment, that seeketh truth. When I had fed them to 
the full, they then committed adultery' (Jer. v. 1, 7). 
'I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem a 
horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in 
falsehood' (xxiii. 14)." t "Son of man, make known 
to Jerusalem her abominations. Thou playedst the 
harlot, because of thy name, and pouredst out thy 
fornications on every one that passed by. Thou didst 
take off thy garments, and deckedst thy high places 
with divers colors, and playedst the harlot thereupon. 
Thou also hast taken thy fair jewels of my gold and 
my silver which I had given thee, and madest to thyself 
images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them. 
* Doctrine of Sacred Scripture, n. 67. t T. C. B., n. 314. 



118 



THE SIXTH COMIIAXDMEXT : 



[Here by jewels of gold and silver are signified the 
treasures of good and truth which the Lord had given 
to the church (Jerusalem) ; by ' making images of men' 
is signified to fabricate resemblances of genuine truths ; 
and to commit whoredom with them, is thereby to 
falsify the ~v> T ord.] ' Thou hast also committed forni- 
cation with the Egyptians, thy neighbors. Thou hast 
played the harlot also with the Assyrians, and hast 
multiplied thy whoredoms in the land of Canaan unto 
Chaldea' (Ezek. xvi. 1, 15 — 29). Who cannot see 
that by whoredoms here are signified the falsification 
of truth and the adulteration of good ; and who can 
understand a single word of this passage, unless he 
knows that whoredom has such a signification 1 also 
unless he knows what is meant by the Egyptians, the 
Assyrians, and Chaldea, with whom Jerusalem is said 
to have committed adultery. It may be expedient 
therefore to show what these signify in the internal 
sense. By Jerusalem is signified the Church : by 
garments are signified truths which are perverted: 
by the Egyptians are signified scientifics, and by the 
Assyrians reasonings; and Chaldea signifies the pro- 
fanation of truth." # . 

In the same manner are explained innumerable 
passages and whole chapters in the prophets, especially 
in Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Hosea, in which Jerusalem 
is spoken of as comuiitting adultery and whoredom \ 
all which are entirely unintelligible, without this key 
to their spiritual sense. In order to represent the 
corrupt state of the Jewish Church, the prophet Hosea 
* Arcana Ccelcstia, n. 820-1, 



THOU SHALT NOT OOMMIT ADULTERY. 



119 



was commanded to take to wife a harlot. Thus, in 
Hosea, first chapter and second verse, we 'read, " And 
the Lord said to Hosea. Go take unto thee a wife of 
whoredoms and children of whoredoms; for the land 
hath committed great whoredom, departing from the 
Lord." Here by the land committing whoredom is 
signified the Church in a state of falsified truth, that 
is, a state in which the true meaning of the Word has 
been corrupted, and so interpreted as to defend falses 
and evils. So, in the Is ew Testament, in the Apoca- 
lypse, Babylon, that is, the Christian church corrupted, 
is called the " Great Harlot." Thus in the fourteenth 
chapter, — "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, 
because she made all nations drink of the wine of the 
wrath of her fornication." " To make all nations drink 
of the wine of the wrath of her fornication," means 
to seduce men's minds by the falsification of the Word : 
wine, in a good sense, signifies spiritual truth, but here, 
truth falsified. So in the seventeenth chapter : " There 
came one of the seven angels, and talked with me, 
saying, Come hither, I will show thee the judgment of 
the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters ; with 
whom the kings of the earth have committed whore- 
dom." By the kings of the earth are signified the 
truths of the Church, and by committing whoredom 
with them is meant to falsify or pervert them. It 
follows, " So he carried me "away in the spirit, into the 
wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet- 
colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, and upon her 
forehead a name was written, Mystery, Babylon the 
Great, mother of harlots and abominations of the 



120 



THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT : 



earth." " By Babylon, here," says the Doctrine of the 
New Church, "is signified the Roman Catholic Religion, 
as to its interior hidden quality; that by reason of its 
originating from the love of dominion, grounded in 
self-love, over the holy things of the church and of 
heaven, thus over all things of the Lord and his' 
Word, — it defiled and profaned the things that relate 
to the Word and thence to the church." 

It may here briefly be explained what is meant by 
adulterating the good and falsifying the truth of the 
Word'. " To falsify the Word, is to take truths out of 
it, and apply them to confirm what is false."* For 
instance, the Lord says, "Without me ye can do 
nothing : " now, if this passage be taken to confirm 
the false doctrine that man cannot keep the com- 
mandments, then that passage of the Word is fal- 
sified. To adulterate the good of the Word is still 
worse than to falsify its truth. To adulterate the 
good of the Word, is to make use of those holy 
teachings which command good actions, and turn 
them into a means of gratifying evil loves, as the 
love of riches and of power. This the Romish Church 
does, when she perverts the true meaning of such 
passages of the Word as teach to give to the poor, or 
to ascribe all things to the Lord, and makes them the 
means of drawing in wealth to herself; or when she 
translates the word signifying " Repent," by the ex- 
pression " Do penance," thus making this Divine com- 
mand a means of keeping her members under the 
power of the priest, and so securing dominion over 
* Apocalypse Revealed, n. 566. 



THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY. 121 

the minds of men. And so in innumerable other in- 
stances. 

The reason why such perversions and corruptions in 
the Church are compared to adulteries and whoredoms, 
is because the Church, as before shown, is called in the 
Word the Lord's Bride and Wife. When, then, the 
Church turns from the worship of him to the wor- 
ship of idols, as was the case in the Jewish Church, 
-—or when she turns away from the love of goodness 
and truth (which are the Lord) to the love of evil and 
falsity, then she turns from her true husband, and so 
is said to commit adultery. Moreover, as already 
explained, the union of goodness and truth constitutes 
the true heavenly marriage, from which true earthly 
marriage descends. When, therefore, goodness is 
divorced from truth, by the falsification of the Word, as 
is the case now, in great part, throughout the Pro- 
testant Church, by means of the establishment of the 
doctrine of salvation by faith alone, then there exists 
what may be called spiritual whoredom, for there can 
be no true marriage or union between goodness and 
falsity. And when, as in the Romish Church, the 
good of the Word is adulterated by being made the 
means of cherishing the evil loves of wealth and 
dominion, then there exists in men's minds a state of 
spiritual adultery, which, as the Doctrine of the New 
Church teaches, actually results in the sin of natural 
adultery, flowing as an effect from its spiritual cause. 
And it is a remarkable fact, that in those countries 
where the Romish religion prevails, as in France and 
Italy, the crime of adultery, as is well known, is 



122 



THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT. 



exceedingly common, and thought comparatively little 
of, even in the higher circles of society; whereas, in 
Protestant countries, as in England, Sweden, parts of 
Germany, and America, adultery is by no means so 
common, but in its place there is found the sin of 
whoredom, and what is called the "social evil" exten- 
sively prevails. • So striking is the correspondence 
between spiritual and natural things, and so close is 
their connection. Hence, then, it may be concluded, 
that the most effective means of removing these evils 
from the world will be the establishment of a true 
Church, in which the Lord shall be worshiped in his 
Divine Humanity, and thus the Church become 
again his true Bride or Wife ; in which also goodness 
shall be united to truth, by the teaching of true 
Doctrines, and thus effecting a re-union between faith 
and charity, between true principles and good works. 
And when thus the true heavenly marriage is estab- 
lished in men's minds, there will result from it true 
earthly marriage, and all the evils that are opposite to 
marriage will be hated and shunned as sins against 
the Lord. 



sekmon'x. 



THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT: THOU SHALT NOT STEAL. 

"Thou shalt not steal."— Exodus xx. 15. 

"We are taught by the Doctrine of the New Church, 
that by this Commandment, in the natural or literal 
sense, is meant, " not to steal, or rob, or act the pirate; 
and in general, not to take away from any one his 
goods secretly or under any pretext. It also extends 
to all kinds of imposition, unlawful gains, usuries, 
and unjust exactions; also to fraudulent practices in 
paying duties and taxes, and in discharging debts. 
Workmen transgress *this Commandment who do 
their work unfaithfully and deceitfully; merchants, 
who deceive in merchandise, or in weight, measure, or 
accounts: judges, who judge for bribes, friendship, 
relationship, or similar causes, perverting the laws or 
the cases before them, and thus unjustly deprive others 
of their goods." * 

Let us now examine some of these particulars in the 
signification of the literal sense of this Commandment; 
and at the same time, let us each examine our con-, 
sciences, and see whether this Divine precept is in any 
way broken by ourselves. 

* True Christian Religion, n. 317. 



124 



THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT I 



In regard to the primary signification of the Com- 
mandment, that which refers to direct theft or robbery, 
a sense of respectability would, with most persons, 
prevent the commission of such a crime. In regard to 
this point, then, it needs only to be observed, that we 
are to examine ourselves, to see from what motive we 
abstain from the commission of it ; whether, because 
such an act would be sin against God, or whether only 
from fear of disgrace amongst men. If only the latter 
be our motive, then we are continually stealing in 
spirit, if not in act ; and after death, when externals 
are stripped off, and the man is seen unmasked, we 
shall appear actually, what we are now in spirit, thieves 
and robbers. We need, then, to examine our motives, 
as well as our actions. 

On this point, the New Church Doctrine speaks 
strongly, as follows: "He who abstains from thefts, 
nay, who even shuns them, from any other motive than 
from religion, and on account of life eternal, is not 
purified from them, for no other motive opens heaven, 
and it is by means of heaven that the Lord removes 
evils with men. For example, administrators of goods, 
merchants, judges, officers of all kinds, and laborers, 
who abstain from thefts on account of reputation and 
thence honor and gain, or on account of civil and 
moral laws, in a word, from any merely natural love 
or any merely natural fear, thus from external bonds 
alone, and not from religion, have still their interiors 
full of thefts and rapine, which also break out when 
the external bonds are taken off, as is the case with 
every one after death : the apparent sincerity and 



§ 



THOU SHALT NOT STEAL. 125 

rectitude of such persons is nothing more than a mask, 
disguise, and craft." * These are considerations which 
need to be earnestly reflected upon. 

Let us now turn to the less direct, but far more 
common, forms of breaking this Commandment: — 
" Impositions, unlawful gains, usuries and exactions." 
To practice imposition or deception of any kind, in 
daily business, is stealing. A merchant, for instance, 
who "deceives in weight, measure, or accounts," who, 
in order to sell his goods, represents them to be 
different from what they are, or by his silence permits 
them to pass for what they are not, sins against this 
Commandment. It is painful to think what a sweep 
the precept, viewed in this light, would make through 
the community, if it fell upon all (as it one day will 
fall) who properly come under its condemnation. How 
many are there who make a daily practice of deceiving 
in their business, either as to weight or measure, or, 
especially, as to quality, — stating to those who come 
to buy of them, that an article is of this or that quality, 
when they know it' to be otherwise, thus receiving 
value from the purchaser, without giving an equivalent! 
Does not the Lord, who is looking down upon that 
man, and sees into his heart, mark this act as theft, as 
much as if he put his hand into his neighbor's purse? 
And it is more than theft : it is falsehood also. Yet, 
day after day, is this fraud practised and this Divine 
Commandment broken by men holding a respectable 
position in society; and they go home at night to 
their families, and lay their heads upon their pillows, 
* Apocalypse Explained, n. 972. 



126 THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT: 

as if they were innocent beings. But the Lord knows 
them, and when they awake in the other world, 
they will know themselves. Let no one call himself a 
Newchurchman who thus lives and acts. He may 
be constant in attendance on the services of public 
worship, he may read the Works of the Church and 
have his memory stored with their truths, so as to be 
able to talk eloquently of the beauties and glories of 
the New Dispensation : but it will all avail him 
nothing. He has " laid up his treasures on earth, not 
in heaven his truths are in his memory only, not in 
his heart ; and " thieves will break through and steal 
them, and moth and rust corrupt them :" after death 
he will lose them all. 

This Commandment extends also to "unlawful 
gains," gains which are made by acting against the 
laws either of God or man. If, for instance, a person 
engages in any business which is contrary to the law 
of the land, and still more if it be such as is calculated 
to injure his fellow-men, and is thus contrary to the 
laws of God, — he breaks this Commandment. The 
selling of lottery tickets, for instance, would come 
under this rule; as also. the keeping of gaming-tables, 
and gaming itself. No true Newchurchman, — no one 
who understands the laws of Divine Providence would 
engage in such occupations and practices. The order 
of Divine Providence is, that every man should per- 
form some use to society, and, in return, society 
recompense him, and thus he gain a livelihood. 
Consequently, to seek to gain money through a lottery, 
or by means of gaming, thus without performing any 



THOU SHALT NOT STEAL. 



127 



uses to the world, is contrary to Divine order. Hence, 
to encourage others in so doing, by selling lottery 
tickets or keeping a gaming-table, is a sin. Look at 
the wickedness stnd wretchedness gathered round the 
gaming-establishments (the " hells," as they are justly 
termed), of Homburg and Baden-Baden in Germany, 
and indeed of many other places nearer home. Is 
there not direct communication of such places with 
infernal societies? Are not infernal spirits themselves 
gathered about such places, firing the hearts and 
glaring through the eyes of the gamesters? are they 
not all thieves at heart — desiring to get away the 
property of others, without returning any equivalent ? 

The making of gains by fortune-telling falls under 
the same prohibition. Says the New Church Doctrine, 
" The desire of foreknowing the future is innate with 
most persons; but this desire has its origin in the love 
of evil. Wherefore it is taken away from those who 
believe in the Divine Providence, and there is given 
to them a trust that the Lord disposes their lot; 
and hence they do not wish to foreknow it, lest they 
should in any manner interfere with the Divine 
Providence." Since, then, the desire to foreknow the 
future originates in evil, no man of principle will 
cherish that desire either in himself or others, by 
countenancing the practice of fortune-telling. Young 
people sometimes go to have their fortunes told, con- 
sidering it as done only for sport, not knowing that 
the wish originates in the deep-seated evil above 
mentioned; and though they may go away laughing at 
what they have heard, an impression is often made 



128 



THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT: 



upon their minds which is hurtful, and tends to 
interfere with the course of Divine Providence in regard 
to them. 

The selling of any article of merchandise, whether 
forbidden by law or not, which tends to injure men 
instead of benefiting them, may be regarded as stealing, 
both in a natural sense and in a spiritual; for thereby 
not only is the neighbor's money taken from him 
without a fair equivalent, but he is also robbed of his 
spiritual and moral wealth; and to make gains by 
such means is a sin against God. 

"Usuries and exactions, also." To lend money at 
an exorbitant rate of interest is stealing, because it is 
taking from another, without rendering a just equiva- 
lent. It is the same to take advantage of a neighbor's 
necessities, to exact from him all you can. Selling at 
very high prices, in times of scarcity, and thereby 
making immense profits, I must class under the same 
head. This is, indeed, the common way of the world; 
but I cannot look upon it as a Christian way. No 
man who truly loves his neighbor, can thus take 
advantage of the needs of individuals or of society at 
large. His profits should be moderate and reasonable, 
and no more at any time. 

To exact from workmen more than a fair amount of 
labor is also to be regarded as stealing. Their wealth 
lies in their strength and skill ; and to exact the ex- 
ercise of these to excess, or without a fair equivalent, 
is to steal. On the other hand, workmen who per- 
form their work unfaithfully and without thoroughness, 
break this Commandment; for they receive the money 



THOU SHALT NOT STEAL. 



120 



of their employer, without making him a just return. 
Those who are guilty of any of these practices commit 
sin against God. 

Again, to defraud the Government in the payment 
of duties and taxes is a violation of this Commandment. 
The writings of the Church teach that our country is 
our neighbor, in a high degree, even more so than an 
individual; for it is composed of millions of individuals. 
To take, therefore, from the Government, by with- 
holding its dues, is robbing or stealing, as truly as it 
would be to take from an individual. Says the New 
Church Doctrine, " In regard to the payment of duties 
and taxes — those who are spiritual pay them with one 
disposition of heart, and those who are merely natural, 
with another. The spiritual pay them with good-will, 
because they are collected for the preservation of their 
country, and for the protection of it and the Church, 
and for the services performed by officers and rulers, 
to whom salaries and stipends are to be paid out of the 
public treasury. Wherefore those who regard their 
country and also the Church as their neighbor, pay 
them willingly and cheerfully, and consider it ini- 
quitous to deceive or defraud. But those who do not 
regard their country and the Church as the neighbor, 
pay them unwillingly and reluctantly, and whenever 
opportunity is given, they withhold them or use decep- 
tion ; for with such, only their own house and their 
own flesh is their neighbor." * 

Unfaithfulness or negligence in discharging debts 
(a very common evil) is also stealing. Not to pay 
*T. C. R., n. 430. 
I 



130 



THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT: 



one's debts at all is manifest stealing ; for it is depriv- 
ing another of his rightful property. It implies, also, 
* the sin of falsehood ; for a person, in contracting a 
debt, promises to make payment at a certain time. 
But this is not all : a want of strict punctuality in the 
payment of debts is also in a manner stealing; for 
every hour that payment is withheld after it becomes 
due, the person from whom it is withheld is deprived 
of the benefits which he might have had by the use of 
his property during that time. It should be looked 
upon as a sin, a sin against God, thus to deprive the 
neighbor of what rightfully belongs to him. There 
may be occasions, indeed — times of extreme and un- 
expected pressure, when it is absolutely impossible to 
keep one's engagements. But with a man who is 
prudent, as well as honest and upright in all his deal- 
ings, from religious principle, such occasions will be 
rare. And as to the payment of small domestic and 
family debts, I consider that there is no exception. 
No man of common honesty or right feeling, much 
less of religious principle, will suffer such debts to 
remain unpaid a day after they are due. If they 
cannot be paid otherwise, he will contrive to do 
it by making sacrifices of conveniences, and even of 
comforts, by contracting his family expenses within 
the smallest possible limits, and by denying himself 
every costly pleasure, till the debt is paid. Who can 
tell the amount of suffering caused among trades- 
people, needle- women, ' washerwomen, and others of 
the class to whom family debts are commonly due, 
by negligence in the payment of such debts. No just 



THOU SHALT NOT STEAL. 131 

man, no one who truly loves his neighbor, will be 
guilty of such negligence. Indeed, the better way is 
to have no such debts, or as few as possible : " Pay as 
you go," is a good rule* for the religious as for the 
moral man. 

We thus perceive how extensive is the signification 
of this Commandment even in the literal or natural 
sense. But let us now turn to the consideration of its 
spiritual sense. 

To steal, in the Spiritual sense, is to deprive 
another of his spiritual wealth, which is goodness 
and truth, the wealth of the soul. Any one, there- 
fore, who deprives another of truth or goodness, 
either by teaching him what is false, or by leading him 
into an evil course of life, is guilty of spiritual theft ; 
and such theft is as much greater an injury than 
natural theft, as spiritual riches are more valuable than 
natural riches. 

A preacher, for instance, who, for selfish or worldly 
ends, teaches what he knows, or may know from the 
Word, to be not true, is guilty of spiritual theft ; for 
he takes away from those whom he teaches, the truths 
which they already possess, or by introducing falsities 
shuts their minds against the light of truth flowing in 
from heaven. A public teacher, therefore, is bound to 
be very careful as to what he says, lest he infuse into 
the minds of his hearers some falsity or phantasy, some 
unwarrantable idea, derived from his own mind, and 
not from the Word of the Lord. He needs to make 
himself sure that all he utters is pure and genuine 



132 THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT: 

truth, supported by the Divine Word, or by the 
Doctrines of the Church thence derived: so shall he 
feed his flock with wheat and not with chaff, with 
bread and not with poison. 

A parent who instils into the mind of his child bad 
principles, as, for instance, that it is right to be angry 
and to take revenge — to fight and return blow for blow 
— such a parent is eminently guilty of spiritual theft; 
for he steals out of his child's heart the spirit of love 
and innocence, and so removes him from heaven, and 
introduces him into the company of infernal spirits. 
In like manner, the parent who talks scandal before 
his children, and thus insinuates into their youthful 
minds hard and uncharitable thoughts, and excites 
feelings of bitterness and hate towards others, is in 
the spiritual sense a robber; and the same, if he sets 
them a bad example in other ways, and thus leads 
them into evil practices. So, one who neglects to 
teach his children right and true principles, but leaves 
them to grow up j ust as they may, — is guilty of spiritual 
theft; for he neglects to discharge a debt which he 
owes his offspring, and which at their birth he im- 
pliedly contracted to pay. Are not many parents 
guilty of this wrong % Are they sufficiently careful to 
instruct their children in religious truths, to instil into 
them right principles, to lead their minds to the contem- 
plation of heavenly things, and to teach them faithfully 
the truths of the Word and the Divine Command- 
ments ? The Sabbath-day, a day of rest from worldly 
work, is specially given in order to afford leisure for 
such duties; and the father who spends the day in 



THOU SHALT. NOT STEAL. 



133 



amusing himself with a newspaper, when he ought to 
be instructing his children in Divine things, is not fit 
to be a parent, — is neglecting the first duties of that 
sacred relation. The commandment is to " teach these 
things diligentty unto their children,"* and the parent 
who neglects to do so, is guilty of depriving his 
children of those spiritual treasures which rightfully 
belong to them as sons of God and heirs of immortality. 
In a word, whoever, by word or deed, directly or 
indirectly, deprives another of truth or goodness, is 
chargeable with the sin of spiritual theft. 

And now, in the last place, let us consider this 
Commandment in its highest or celestial sense. To 
steal, in this sense, is to take from the Lord ; that is, 
to claim as our own what belongs to Him. Now, the 
truth is, that all our powers, mental and physical — all 
truth and goodness — nay, life itself, — are from the 
Lord and are every instant given by him. They are 
not our own, but are his in us. If he should, for a 
single instant, cease to give them to us anew, we 
should be altogether without them. If he for one 
moment withheld his flow of rationality into the 
mind, we should be idiots; if he for a moment ceased 
to pour the stream of love and kindness into the heart, 
we should be seized upon and carried away by all 
maimer of evil passions ; nay, if the influx of life 
itself ceased for an instant to come in from him 
afresh, we should fall dead to the ground. Such is 
the teaching of the New Church Doctrine, as derived 
* Deut. vi. 7. 



134 



THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT : 



from the Holy Word : " A man can receive nothing," 
says the Scripture, " except it be given him from 
heaven." 

This being the case, if a man claim to himself his 
mental abilities, (his talents, as they are called,) and is 
proud of them, — if he does not with mind and heart 
acknowledge them as belonging to the Lord alone — in 
a word, if he is a self-conceited man, — he is guilty of 
violating the Commandment in this its celestial sense. 
He receives .or wishes to receive praise and honor 
which does not belong to him, and withholds it from 
Him to whom it is due. All irreligious men, therefore, 
are breakers of this Commandment. They are every 
moment receiving from the Lord what they do not 
acknowledge to be derived from Him, but which they 
virtually claim for their own. If men of this descrip- 
tion, who often make pretensions to honor, would but 
consider that they are every moment of their lives 
acting a most dishonorable part, by laying claim to 
that which is not theirs, — they would perhaps, lose 
something of that high self-estimation which is charac- 
teristic of this class. If such men were to conduct 
themselves towards other men with the ingratitude 
which they are continually showing tQwards the Lord, 
their greatest benefactor, they would be branded as 
dishonorable throughout society. Let us examine 
ourselves, and see if we are not, in a greater or 
less degree, guilty of breaking this Commandment in 
its highest sense, by not looking to the Lord, and 
acknowledging Him in all our ways. 

Says the Lord Himself, " Verily, verily, I say unto 



THOU SHALT NOT STEAL. 



135 



you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheep- 
fold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is 
a thief and a robber." "I am the door of the sheep." 
He, then, who does not acknowledge the Lord Jesus 
Christ as God, nor look to Him in His Divine 
Humanity, but passing by Him, seeks to climb up 
some other way into heaven, is guilty of spiritual theft 
and robbery. For he who does not acknowledge a 
visible God, by worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ, but 
looks only to an invisible abstract Being whom he 
terms " God," but of whom he can form no idea, and 
therefore to whom he can offer no true worship, — does 
in reality fall back on himself, and in his heart 
attributes merit and righteousness to himself, and so 
steals from the Lord. Let us, then, look to the Lord 
alone, and ascribe ail merit to Him : so shall we be 
truly honest and sincere and humble in heart. 



SERMON XI. 



THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT : THOU SHALT NOT BEAR 
FALSE WITNESS. 

"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor," 

Exodus xx. 16. 

The Ten Commandments were written on tables of 
stone, by God Himself ; and were then given to Moses 
in the Mount, to be brought down to the children of 
Israel, and to be deposited in the sacred Ark, thence 
to be a light to the church forever. Those Command- 
ments, therefore, are truly and altogether Divine ; 
there is nothing human about them, — they passed 
through no human mind, nor were they even penned 
by human hand : but they came directly from the 
Divine mind, and were written by the finger of God. 
And being Divine, — they are consequently infinite in 
meaning; for whatever is Divine, is infinite. The Ten 
Commandments are, in themselves, a summary of all 
the Divine Commandments, as, when they are traced 
through their derivations and conclusions, may be seen 
to be true. For they are each of them great first 
principles, whence are derived innumerable minor prin- 
ciples ; they are great fountain-heads of truth, from 
which flow countless streams : and they themselves are 



THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS. 137 



derfved from the One Supreme Fountain, the Lord Him- 
self. Like the rest of the Divine Word, they have, too, 
an internal sense, within and above that of the letter. 
As the literal sense is intended for men in a simple, 
natural state, so the internal or spiritual sense is for 
those men whose minds are in a more elevated and 
spiritual state; and also for those who were once men 
in this world, but are now dwelling in the spiritual 
world, good and happy — angels of heaven. They, too, 
have these Divine Commandments, and know and obey 
them ; for it is written, " Forever, 0 Lord, thy Word 
is settled in heaven."* 

We propose on the present occasion to explain the 
meaning of the Commandment which is the subject of 
our text, — first in its literal, and then in its spiritual 
sense. 

" By bearing false witness against the neighbor," 
says the Doctrine of the New Church, " is meant, in 
the natural sense, first of all, to act as a false witness 
before a judge, or before others not in a court of justice, 
against any one who is rashly accused of any evil; 
and to asseverate this by the name of God or anything 
holy. By this Commandment, in a wider natural 
sense, are meant lies of every kind, and hypocrisies, 
which look to a bad end;, and also to traduce and 
defame the neighbor, so that his honor, name, and 
fame, on which the character of the whole man depends, 
are injured. In the widest natural sense are meant, 
unfaithfulness, stratagems, and evil purposes against 
any one, from various origins, as from enmity, hatred, 
* Ps. cxix. 89, 



138 THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT: 

revenge, envy, rivalship, &c. ; for these evils conceal 
within them the testifying of what is false." * Thus 
extensive is the range of this Commandment in the 
natural sense alone : it forbids falsehood of every kind, 
in all its myriad shapes and forms. Let us consider 
some of the various kinds of false witness, presented in 
the above extract, and examine them more minutely; 
so that, knowing them well, we may, when we meet 
with them in the daily walks of life, at once detect 
them both in ourselves and others, and shun them as 
sins against God ; for so only can they be removed and 
cast out from our own hearts, in the first place, and then, 
so far as our influence extends, from society at large. 
For, there is, perhaps, no evil, that directly causes 
more bitterness and hard and bad feeling in society, 
than that which is forbidden by this Commandment. 

The first and most manifest form, which this evil 
assumes, is that of bearing false witness, or testifying 
falsely, in a court of justice. This is so obvious and so 
gross a sin, that no man, who makes any pretensions 
to an honorable character, would be guilty of it ; and 
it is moreover punishable by the law of the land. 
Little therefore needs to be said, on this point, by way 
of explanation or comment ; yet one important remark 
may be made in connection with it. Men of the world 
often shun the commission of certain crimes, merely 
because they fear the punishment of the law, or the 
loss of wealth, or reputation and standing in society ; 
while, at the same time, were those fears removed, 
they would not hesitate to commit them. Such 
* True Christian Religion, n. 321. 



THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS. 139 

persons, therefore, do commit those crimes, in thought 
and in heart, though not in act. Wherefore, they 
are, in heart, and before the Divine eye that sees the 
heart, already guilty of them ; and after death, if not 
in this world, they will be punished accordingly : for 
every evil fixed in the heart, brings its own punish- 
ment. It behoves every man, therefore, to look well to 
his motives; to look well to his heart, and ask himself 
why it is, that he avoids such and such criminal acts : 
whether it is from fear of God or from fear of men ? 
If he shuns that evil, from any other motive than 
because it is a sin against God, then he is always com- 
mitting it in spirit. In regard, then, to this crime, of 
testifying falsely against another before a court of 
justice, let us ask ourselves, why we should disdain to 
commit it : is it from fear of the law, and because it is 
disreputable, or is it because we should feel it to be a 
sin against God ? If the last be our true motive, then 
the same motive will prevent us from testifying falsely, 
out of a court of justice, as well as in it, — when we 
are not under oath, as well as when we are; as, for 
instance, in cases brought before arbitrators, in cases 
of appraisement and valuation of property, either our 
own or that of others, and in the numerous other 
cases that occur daily in the business world.; in all 
such instances, even to the smallest, the man of principle, 
the spiritual man, acts in the remembrance that he is 
under the Divine eye. 

But this Commandment has a still wider significa- 
tion. It forbids falsehood and lying, and also every 
species of hypocrisy, pretence, and wrong concealment. 



140 THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT: 

Open falsehood is forbidden by this commandment, as 
it is in other parts of the Divine Word; for instance, 
in the 101st Psalm, "He that worketh deceit shall 
not dwell within my house; he that telleth lies shall 
not tarry in my sight." But this is a vice so gross 
and shameless that most men will refrain from it 
for the sake of character, if on no other account. But 
secret falsehood, which in the Lord's sight is the same 
as open falsehood, — secret falsehood, under all its 
various forms of misrepresentation, deception, cunning, 
is daily and hourly committed by how many? by how 
many, too, who think that they would scorn to be 
guilty of a direct falsehood? Look through the 
business world. Follow the shop-keeper or merchant 
to his place of business — stand by him, while he sells 
his goods — set down a black mark (as a black mark is 
graven on his heart) every time he misrepresents and 
deceives the buyer — and then, at evening, count up 
those marks — and see how that man has blackened 
over his soul in one day — see how many times he has 
broken this Divine commandment ! 

ISTor does the seller stand alone in his iniquity: 
how ready is the buyer, too, to take selfish advantage 
when he can ! how does he strive to cheapen the 
article, to "beat down" the price to the lowest pos- 
sible point, not considering that a truly honest man 
will not desire anything at less than its fair value. 
But the sin of falsehood is not confined to those; go 
through the whole world of business — in* town and in 
country, wherein there is trading and dealing of one 
man with another— and witness, alas! the fraud and 



THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS. 141 

deception that are everywhere practised. See how 
the whole race is tainted with the foul pollution of 
falsehood — men selling their souls for a piece of money. 
The sin is rank, and, like the smoke of blood just shed, 
ascends to heaven. 

Look, then, at the world of public life ; mark the 
wickedness that prevails in high places ! See how the 
sin of falsehood and deception runs riot there! How 
does the Lord look down and behold his Commandment 
broken every hour! We may judge what an age we 
live in, when truth, the guardian and preserver of all 
that is good and pure, is so little regarded. 

Now, every man of principle, every man who has 
any religion, every man who is looking towards 
heaven, who knows and realizes what he is living for 
in this lower world, — who cares for the good of his 
fellow-men and his own eternal good and happiness — 
every such man is imperatively called upon to take his 
stand against this course of things. He must set his 
face firmly against this evil. And let him begin with 
reforming himself. Let him take care that there is 
no fraud or deception, no falsehood, open or disguised, 
in his own dealings. Let him strive to keep all his 
engagements punctually. Let truth be on his lips 
and in his acts — and the Lord will bless and prosper 
him, even in this world, and save him at last. 

But let us now turn to another view of the subject. 
" To bear false witness " is also to traduce and defame 
the neighbor, and falsely to speak anything evil oi 
him. And here a wide field of remark opens before 
us. If there be a sin, which is the pest of society, and 



142 



THE EIGHTH COMJIANDMEXT I 



destroys its peace and harmony, — which nourishes bad 
and hard and unkind feelings, which rouses and stirs 
up angry passions, and is the cherisher of "envy, malice, 
and all uncharitableness" — it is the sin here forbidden, 
the sin of speaking evil of others. This sin is some- 
times committed openly, and from wilful and malicious 
purpose; and then it is indeed a sin of the deepest 
dye. It may be said indeed almost to rank with the 
crime of murder ; indeed, it is declared by the New 
Church Doctrine to be a species of murder ; there is in 
it the principle of murder, for there is in it hate and 
malice, and hate is the soul of murder and is its parent. 
One who can deliberately go about traducing and 
defaming his neighbor, and seeking to destroy his 
character and good name, has in his heart that princi- 
ple which might lead him at length, and under 
certain circumstances, to take his neighbor's life itself. 
Such criminality as this, however, is, it is to be hoped, 
comparatively rare. 

But there is another species of this sin, which, 
though less heinous in its nature, is yet a great evil, 
and baneful in its effects; and that is the sin of con- 
temptuously, or carelessly and recklessly, speaking evil 
of others. This sin, besides being referred to in this 
Commandment, is also forbidden in express language, 
in other parts of the Divine Word. It is written 
in the 101st Psalm, "Whoso privily slandereth his 
neighbor, him will I cut off." And in the 15th 
Psalm, it is thus written, " Lord, who shall abide in 
thy tabernacle 1 who shall dwell in thy holy hill ? He 
that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, 



THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS. 143 

and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that back- 
biteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor, 
nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor." So it 
is said in Leviticus,* in very plain language, " Thou 
shalt not go up and down, as a tale-bearer amongst thy 
people" How many are there, who keep faithfully 
these Commandments 1 "Who is there of us, that is 
careful never to "go up and down as a tale-bearer 
amongst his people?" Should we not earnestly pray 
the Lord, in the words of the Psalmist, to "set a 
watch before our mouth," and " keep the door of our 
lips;" and then strive hard ourselves to do what we 
have prayed the Lord to help us do 1 Truly speaks 
the Apostle James, when he says, " If any man among 
you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, 
but deceiveth his own heart, —this man's religion is 
vain." My brethren, this subject demands our parti- 
cular attention. The habit of speaking uncharitably 
and ill of others is too common. It is indeed often 
done thoughtlessly; but it is not the less a sin on that 
account. For though we may not be aware of it, it 
proceeds from evil in our hearts. It comes either 
from secret malice, bitterness, and hard feeling, or, at 
best, it is a proof of indifference and recklessness in 
regard to the comfort and welfare of our neighbor — 
which indifference certainly shows the want of love to 
the neighbor; and where that good affection is not, 
there must be an evil feeling in its place : for where 
there is not good, there is evil : there is no medium : 
there can be no vacuum. 

* xix. 16. 



♦ 



144 THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT: 

Yes ! it is secret evil in our hearts, which produces 
this habit of speaking harshly, uncharitably, ill of our 
neighbor; and if we watch ourselves closely, we shall 
find it to be so. Let us observe our feelings, note our 
thoughts carefully, when we are saying or about to 
say something to the prejudice of another. Let us 
observe if we do not discover a hidden feeling of dis- 
like, or, envy, rivalry, bitterness, or petty revenge, 
which prompts us to speak. It must be so : it cannot 
be otherwise. Words come from thoughts, and 
thoughts spring from feelings. Where there is only 
love, and kind feeling in the heart, it is utterly impos- 
sible for a hard thought to enter the mind, or an 
unkind word to come from the lips. All this evil- 
speaking, then, is from an evil heart : there is the 
impure fountain : cleanse that, and the stream will be 
clear and pure. As it is written, "Out of the abun- 
dance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. A good man, 
out of the good treasure of the heart, bringeth forth 
good things; and an evil man, out of the evil treasure, 
bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you," said 
the Lord, "that every idle word that men shall speak, 
they shall give account thereof in the day of judg- 
ment." * My brethren, let us ask ourselves, how many 
idle words and evil words we shall have to give 
account of, at our day of judgment! How many times 
in the week, do we make unkind and uncharitable 
remarks about our neighbors, about even our friends 
(so called) ! How often are sly inuendoes thrown out 
against them! How often are bad motives ascribed to 
* Matt, xii. 34—36. 



THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS. 145 

them, for this or that part of their conduct, when 
perhaps they are entirely innocent of any such inten- 
tions ! Is not this "bearing false witness?" How 
often do we take a kind of evil delight (which we do 
not acknowledge to ourselves or even distinctly per- 
ceive) in dwelling upon the little faults of others, or on 
some trifling mistake or error in their conduct ! Let 
us examine ourselves in regard to these things: we 
need such a self-examination — all of us — and a 
thorough one. If I mistake not, it will be found that 
we have all sinned deeply on this head : and we have 
need to ask humble forgiveness of the Lord, for the 
past, and to commence a new course in the time to 
come. We must break up this evil habit; we must 
put this sin away from us. 

And how is this evil to be overcome? like every 
other evil, — by combating it, by resisting it, when the 
tempter comes upon us — in no other way can it be 
overcome. We must watch ourselves, and stand ready 
to resist, as soon as the evil thought comes into our 
minds, and the unkind word to our lips. For instance : 
two persons are talking together: — the name of a third 
person is mentioned. Now comes the temptation. If 
either of the speakers has been in the habit of indulg- 
ing himself in making uncharitable remarks about his 
neighbor, the evil spirit that was sleeping in his 
heart now rises, and at once commences searching 
about the memory, to see if it cannot discover some 
piece of information, which has been laid up there, 
to the prejudice of that person : if it can, it rejoices, 
and at once brings it out : if it cannot, its next thought 
K 



146 



THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT; 



is, to coin something of the kind, or at least, to offer 
some suggestion, some supposition, some expression of 
" wonder," why that person did this or that — or 
whether it is not likely that he intends to do so and 
so, — thus often impertinently and ungenerously prying 
into his private and family concerns : — and moreover 
throwing over all the shade of evil — infusing the taint 
of uncharitableness into all that is said. This is the 
wicked spirit of Slander, whose poisonous breath 
pollutes the air. 

Now, how is this evil spirit to be resisted? It is 
not very easy to resist it, especially if the bad habit 
has been long indulged. But with earnest effort it 
may be done. In the first place, call to mind some 
command from the- Word, for that is Divine and has 
power — as, for instance — "Thou shalt not bear false 
witness against thy neighbor" : or that other passage, 
"Thou shalt not go up and down as a tale-bearer 
amongst thy people." With this Divine truth in the 
mind, resist the evil thought and strive to drive it 
away : close the lips ; either say nothing at all about 
the person, or else say something good. Struggle in 
this way, till the temptation is past, and the victory 
won. The next time, the conquest will be easier. 
And after a few such combats, all desire of speaking 
evil of others will be gone; and in its place there will 
be found, after a time, a new inhabitant of the heart, 
just come from heaven — that is, a delight in speaking 
well of others, and a repugnance at saying anything 
ill of tb em. He who has arrived at this state has 
advanced a good way in the path of regeneration. 



THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS. 147 



And now, let us conclude with a few words on the 
internal sense of this Commaudment. To ^bear false 
witness," signifies, in the spiritual sense, to endeavor 
to persuade another that false principles of religion are 
true; and also that various evils of life are good and 
right: — and to do this knowingly and intentionally. 
For instance, if a religious teacher endeavors to instil 
into his hearers the principle that they may be saved 
by mere faith, without regard to the life; and that it 
is in vain to try to keep the Divine commandments — 
he bears false witness; for he knows, or may know, 
what is taught everywhere in the Word, that men 
are saved by a good life according to the Divine com- 
mandments. So, if a parent teaches his child — either 
by direct instruction, or indirectly by his conversation, 
— to think that the chief good of life is to be rich, 
and that the great end he should have in view, is 
worldly advancement, — that parent bears false witness, 
for he teaches what is not true nor good : for the Divine 
Word says, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and 
his righteousness; and all things needful shall be added 
to you." * 

In the supreme or Celestial sense, "to bear false 
witness," is to blaspheme the Lord and the Holy Word. 
To endeavor to confirm in one's self, and to infuse into 
the minds of others, the awfully false idea — that there 
is no God, and thus to destroy men's souls by separating 
them from their Maker and Heavenly Father : to affirm, 
also, and obstinately to insist, that the Lord Jesus Christ, 
the Savior of the world, was a mere man, — and thus 
* Matt. vi. 33. 



148 



THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. 



to turn away men's minds from looking to and worship- 
ing Him, who was " God manifest in the flesh : " or* to 
reject the Holy Word, and deny its inspiration and 
Divinity, and thus to cast aside that precious Book of 
Revelation, which the Lord in his mercy and love, has 
sent down to show men the way to heaven: — to do 
these things, wilfully and obstinately, when one knows 
or might know better — this is to " bear false witness," 
in the worst and most dangerous manner. 

Thus various and comprehensive are the meanings 
of the Divine Commandment, " Thou shalt not bear 
false witness against thy neighbor." Let us strive, 
henceforth, to keep and obey this Commandment 
better than we have done heretofore; and pray the 
Lord to give us the wish and the strength to do so. 
" If ye know these things," said the Lord, "happy are 
ye if ye do them," 



SERMON XII. 

NINTH AND TENTH COMMANDMENTS: THOU SHALT 
NOT COVET. 

"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house: thou shalt not 
covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid- 
servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neigh- 
bor's. "—Exodus xx. 17. 

This verse contains two Commandments, namely, the 
ninth and tenth. They both indeed refer to coveting, 
yet that they are distinct Commandments, is evident 
from the circumstance that the words, "Thou shalt 
not covet," are repeated. This will appear still more 
plain, when we come to set forth the internal sense. 
In that sense, as we shall see, the Commandment, 
" Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house," has 
reference to the love of the world; whereas the rest of 
the verse, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, 
man-servant," &c, has reference to the love of self, 
and, in particular, to the love of dominion. Thus, the 
Commandments are distinct. 

While upon this point, a few remarks may be made 
in regard to the different modes in which the Ten 
Commandments are divided or numbered in different 
sections of the Christian Church. In the English and 



150 NINTH AND TENTH COMMANDMENTS: 



Calvinistic Churches, that is, in the Protestant Churches 
of Western Europe, and, also, in Jhose of America 
derived from them, the mode of numbering the Com- 
mandments is to divide what we have reckoned as the 
first Commandment into two, and to account the 
ninth and tenth as one, thus still retaining the number 
of Ten Commandments. This arrangement prevails 
also in the Greek Church, and was first suggested by 
Origen. But in the Lutheran Church, which pervades 
Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and a great part of 
Germany, — and also in the Roman Catholic Church, 
throughout the world, the custom has existed of con- 
sidering the whole of the first part of the Decalogue, 
having relation to the worship of one God, as a single 
Commandment, and of dividing the last part of the 
Decalogue, or that which relates to coveting, into two 
Commandments, — thus still retaining the number Ten. 
The reason why the number of Ten must be retained, 
is, because they are called in Scripture the Ten Com- 
mandments, or (literally) the "Ten Words;"* and 
this, for the reason that the number Ten signifies 
ally and the Decalogue contains the substance 
of all the commandments of the Word in a sum- 
mary, f 

Let us now consider the general meaning of these 
two Commandments. And first it may be remarked, 
that while the other Commandments, in their literal 
* Exod. xxxiv. 28. 

+ Swedenborg, having been brought up in the Lutheran Church, 
naturally adopted the mode of division customary in that 
Church: perhaps, also, because he thought it better adapted to 
the internal sense. 



8 



THOU SHALT NOT COVET. 15] 

sense, forbid only evil deeds, as " Thou shalt not kill," 
"Thou shalt not steal," &c, these two last Command- 
ments forbid evil thoughts and desires : as, " Thou 
shalt not covet" — that is, thou shalt not even desire, 
or wish to possess, what is another's. But, viewed 
more "interiorly, these two Commandments not only 
have reference to the particular sin of coveting, but 
they have a bearing upon all the sins forbidden in the 
previous Commandments, and teach that we are not 
only not to do those things, but that we must not even 
will or desire to do them. The truth of this observa- 
tion may be seen from the fact that, as before men- 
tioned, these two Commandments refer to the love 
of self and the love of the world. Now these two 
loves, the love of self and the love of the world, are, 
as the New Church Doctrine teaches, the fountains 
and sources of all evils whatever. Hence, in for- 
bidding these, all evils are in fact forbidden. And 
this is the peculiar character of a Divine writing, 
as the Decalogue is : — there is a certain order and 
progression of its parts towards a conclusion, and 
at the conclusion all that has gone before is seen 
summed up, as it were, and presented to view at 
once as in a mirror. So is it with these two last 
Commandments : they comprise the substance of all 
the others. 

But now, let us examine them separately. And first, 
the Commandment, " Thou shalt not covet thy neigh- 
bor's house." This Commandment forbids the love of 
the world, in all its forms. By the love of the world 



lo2 



is meant an inordinate desire of possessing wealth, 
property, material things. This desire may be called 
the rising passion of the present age; and it is one which 
every spmtual-niinded man will endeavor to resist in 
himself, and check in others. The wish to obtain a 
competency of worldly goods is orderly and proper, 
provided that in the pur-nit of that wish the life be 
kept within the strict bounds of honesty and upright- 
ness, and the desire itself be held ever in subjection to 
the desire for higher and heavenly things, and be 
conjoined with trust in Divine Providence, and a 
submission to the Lord's will. But the desire for 
property is sinful, when it becomes the ruling passion 
of the mind, when higher things are made subservient 
to it. and especially when the effort to realize its ends 
leads the man to the employment of any fraudulent 
and deceptive arts. Then it becomes a deadly sin. and 
is called "love of the world. ;: 

The love of the world." says the Doctrine of the 
New Church, " consists in wishing to appropriate to 
one's self the wealth of others by artifices, and in 
placing the heart in riches, and in suffering the world 
to draw and lead it away from spiritual love, which is 
love towards the neighbor. — and consequently from 
heaven. Those are in the love of the world, who 
desire to appropriate to themselves the goods of others 
by various artifices, particularly by means of cunning 
and deceit, esteeming their neighbor's welfare of no 
importance. Those who are in that love, covet the 
goods of others : and, so far a-" they do not fear the 
laws and the loss of reputafcioj which they regard for 



THOU SHALT NOT COVET. 



153 



the sake of gain, they deprive others of their property 
and even rob." * 

It is to be hoped that the latter part of this descrip- 
tion is applicable to few or none that now hear me, — 
namely, the disposition to obtain the property of others 
by fraud and artifice. Yet we know how strong the 
temptation is to such a course, in the business world 
at this day; and the best men have need to be on 
their guard against it. Under the sharp competition 
that exists in all branches of trade, men are often 
tempted to use artifices to obtain that profit on their 
goods, which seems sometimes difficult to be obtained 
by a fair and regular mode of doing business. Therein 
lies the power of the temptation. If it were perfectly 
easy to be honest and get rich, too, there would be no 
temptation to be dishonest, and the worst men might 
be upright, because it was respectable and at the same 
time perfectly convenient to be so. But without 
temptation, there is less perfection; because without 
temptation there is no combat, and it is combat against 
evils which gives us a clear perception of their hateful 
nature, and a stronger relish for the opposite good. 
Hence, the Lord's words are, " I counsel thee to buy 
of me gold tried in the fire;"t that is, to seek to 
obtain that heavenly goodness (signified by gold) which 
is reached only through the purifying fires of tempta- 
tion. Temptations are indeed all around us in the 
world : there is opportunity enough for spiritual 
combat : and the spiritual-minded man, fighting in the 
Lord's strength, will make these trials the means to 
* Heavenly Doctrine, n. 76. + Rev. iii- 18. 



154 NINTH AND TENTH COMMANDMENTS: 

his higher purification. If he be actively engaged in 
the business world, he will feej the need of being 
continually on his guard, lest he be contaminated by 
the influence of bad examples around him, or seduced 
by the evil counsels of unprincipled men of the world 
with whom he comes into contact, or provoked by the 
wrong done to himself to retaliate by doing wrong to 
others. But the tempter he fears above all the rest, is 
that in his own bosom. Knowing that all men, at 
this day, are born with a greater or less degree of 
self-love and love of the world in their hearts, he feels 
the need of being on the watch against this hereditary 
tendency ; and conscious of his own weakness, he never 
permits himself to go forth to the business of the day, 
without looking up in prayer to Him who alone is 
good and true, and who alone can stem the tide of 
temptation that presses from without and from within, 
and give strength to get the victory. 

Thus does the spiritual man strive to be ever on the 
watch against that gross form of the love of the world, 
which acts by cunning, artifice, dishonesty. 

But there is a more subtle danger yet to be guarded 
against. Observe the other part of the definition of 
love of the world, before quoted from the Doctrine of 
the New Church, namely, that, besides seeking to 
appropriate the wealth of others by artifice, it consists 
" in placing the heart in riches, and in suffering the 
world to draw it away from spiritual love, and con- 
sequently from heaven." He who allows the things of 
the world, and the desire for riches, to occupy his 
thoughts exclusively or chiefly, and to be set before 



THOU SHALT NOT COTET. 



155 



him as the main object of life, — such a one commits 
the sin of " placing the heart in riches," and " suffers 
the world to draw him away from heaven." It is to 
such a man that the Scripture says, " Thou fool, this 
night thy soul shall be required of thee : then whose 
shall those things be which thou hast provided. So is 
he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich 
toward God."* Such a man is truly foolish, because he 
sacrifices a great thing for a small one; because he 
throws away the happiness of a thousand millions of 
years to gain a little pleasure for threescore and ten, 
or perhaps for not half so long; — because for the sake 
of show, and vain-glory, and a little worldly pleasure 
just now, he is willing to lose the splendor and magni- 
ficence and myriad delights of the glorious world on 
high, which he might have enjoyed forever and ever. 
" What doth it profit a man," says the Lord, " though 
he gain the whole world, and lose his soul?" 

Now it is to be feared that there are many, very 
many, who are in danger of this folly and this sin. 
In this most worldly age, and in the push and rush of 
business, even good men are in danger of forgetting 
themselves, — in danger of being swept on with the 
current, and of giving themselves up to the tide; and 
thus of being " drawn away from love to the neighbor, 
and consequently from heaven." They are apt to 
become — if not dishonest, at least hard and griping in 
their dealings; in seeking their own interests, they 
are apt to forget the interests of others ; whereas the 
Lord's command is, to "love our neighbor as our- 
♦Lukexii. 20, 21. 



156 NINTH AND TENTH COMMANDMENTS I 

selves", in all things. They are in danger, for instance, 
of being harsh towards those they employ, of pushing 
them unjustly in their work, requiring more of them 
than is right, and of contracting their wages within 
unfair limits, thus subjecting themselves to the pun- 
ishment denounced against those that "oppress the 
hireling in his wages." * 

These and many other practices that are contrary to 
love towards the neighbor, men are in danger of at 
this day. These are the things that draw a man away 
from heaven, that harden his heart, and make him 
selfish, and indifferent to the welfare of his fellow-men. 

Moreover, too much devotion to worldly pursuits and 
pleasures is a danger to be guarded against; — as the 
love of display in dress, furniture, equipage, going to 
balls and parties and public places of amusement, 
wilich when enjoyed in moderation are useful recrea- 
tions, but when pursued to excess draw one away from 
the sober duties of life, dissipate all serious thoughts, 
and thus remove man's mind from heaven. The 
spiritual man will be constantly on his guard against 
this and all other forms of the love of the world, and 
his greatest security is the habits of daily reading the 
Divine Word and of prayer. No man who keeps in 
mind the true end of his existence — namely, heaven 
and the life eternal — will permit himself to pass a 
single day without going to that Holy Word which is 
the guide-book to heaven, and refreshing his mind — 
if even but for a few moments — by perusing its sacred 
pages — reading a Psalm, or a portion of a chapter, and 
* MaL iii. 5. 



THOU' SHALT NOT COVET. 



157 



thus storing up in the treasure-house of his memory 
some gem of Divine truth which may be a light to 
him through the duties of the day. 

Let us now turn to a consideration of the other 
Commandment, the tenth: — "Thou shalt not covet 
thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid- 
servant, nor his ox, nor bis ass, nor anything that is 
thy neighbor's." 

As the ninth Commandment has reference to the 
love of the world, so this refers to the love of self, — 
in particular to that form of the love of self, which 
consists in desiring to rule over others, and subject 
them to our own will. That such is the meaning of 
this Commandment does not appear from the literal 
sense, but only from the spiritual. In that sense, by 
a man's house is signified his mental house, his mind ; 
and by the things and persons in the house, as wife, 
man-servant, maid-servant, are signified principles and 
affections in man's mind. That such is the signification 
of house in the true sense of Scripture, is plain from 
the Lord's words, " I am come to set a man at variance 
against his father, and a daughter against her mother, 
and the danghter-in-law against her mother-in-law, 
and a man's foes shall be those of his own household." * 
Here by the household is signified the inner household 
of man's own mind; and by the father, mother, 
mother-in-law, who are to be opposed, are signified 
man's hereditary evils and falses which are to be 
resisted and overcome : the foes of his household are 
* Matt. x. 35— 36. 



158 



NINTH AND TENTH COMMANDMENTS '. 



the evils of his own heart, against which he must 
struggle. So, when the Lord says, " If any one come 
to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, 
and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his 
own life also, he cannot be my disciple." * Here it is 
plain that the words are to be understood only in a 
spiritual sense : no one, surely, is required to hate the 
members of his own family, in order to love the Lord. 
But all these several terms of relationship signify the 
various natural evils and false principles existing in 
every ujiregenerate mind, which are banded together 
in a kind of household relationship. 

So in the text. By " wife, man-servant, and maid- 
servant, ox, and ass," are signified the principles and 
affections of man's own mind. But here the terms 
are used in a good sense. By wife is signified the 
affection of good and truth spiritual ; by man-servant 
and maid-servant are signified the affection of good and 
truth rational, serving the spiritual (for man's rational 
mind or reason is intended to be subservient, not 
opposed, to his spiritual mind) ; and by the ox and the 
ass are signified the affection of good and truth natural 
(for animals, especially beasts of burden, are represen- 
tatives of thoughts and affections in the natural mind, 
which are intended to serve both* the rational and 
spiritual). Such is the signification of the terms used 
in the text. 

This being understood, then it will be seen that by 
coveting these, namely, a man's wife, man-servant, 
&c, is signified, in the spiritual sense, a desire to get 
* Luke xiv. 26. 



THOU SHALT NOT COVET. 1-59 

possession of, or get power over, a man's thoughts anc£ 
feelings, and thus master him. The desire to rule <^r 
have dominion over a man's body and property/ is 
indeed a great sin : such desire we see in kings, con- 
querors, political tyrants. But to desire to rule a 
man's mind, to gain a mastery over his principles and 
affections, so that he cannot think in freedom — this 
is a far deeper sin. This we behold sometimes in 
spiritual rulers, particularly in that corrupt church, 
called in Scripture " Babylon," in which the effort is 
unceasingly made to enslave men's mind , in order 
thereby to hold them and all that they possess in 
entire subjection. Such lust of dominion is truly 
infernal: it flows into man's mind from hell itself, 
and from infernal spirits, whose chief aim is to get the 
mastery of man's thoughts and passions, knowing well 
that if they can succeed in this, the man is their slave : 
they gripe him by the heart, and he cannot move. 
The members of that subtle fraternity, the Jesuits, 
have, as is well known, been long distinguished by 
this species of lust of dominion. Acting as father- 
confessors of kings and nobles, they have, by' first 
getting sway over their minds, over their ideas and 
feelings, attained dominion over whole states and 
kingdoms, and at times have governed according to 
their will almost the whole of Europe. Thanks to a 
watchful Providence, their power is now broken for- 
ever: as light and knowledge have progressed, men 
have come to see these agents of the Powers of Dark- 
ness in their true character, and are on their guard 
against them. The Papacy itself is founded in the 



160 



NINTH AND TENTH COMMANDMENTS ! 



same wicked lust of dominion, first over men's minds, 
and thereby over their persons and property. But 
th&t evil Power is now tottering to its downfall, and 
the time will soon come when will be wholly fulfilled 
that Scripture prophecy, " Babylon the great is fallen, 
is fallen. With violence shall that great city, Babylon, 
be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all." * 
But we must descend, now, from public to private 
concerns, and thus bring the Commandment nearer our 
own doors. We are to remember that the text forbids 
every form of the love of dominion, of ruling over 
others, of subjecting others to ourselves. For instance, 
in the household. And first of all, — between husband 
and wife ; the love of rule on either side is* especially 
to be avoided, for it is utterly destructive of true 
conjugial love. Let no man say, " My will shall be 
law in my household." A man's will should be law 
in no case whatever: the Lord's will should be law, 
and that alone : in other words, the right should pre- 
vail, and every one should give up his own will, and let 
the right be done: the endeavor of the spiritual man 
in every case will be simply and mildly to seek to 
ascertain what is right : for thus will the Lord's will 
be done, and all will be happy. The Jove of dominion, 
under the form of will or wilfulness, is one of the 
greatest disturbers of life, whether social, private, or 
public. When a man says " / will,'" all is over with 
him: he has given himself up to the dominion of 
internal spirits, and while he thinks he is master, he 
is actually himself the slave of invisible powers. He 
* Kev. xviii. 2, 2h 



/ 

/ 



THOU SHALT NOT COVET. 161 

fancies he is having his own way, but it is their way- 
he is having; they are urging him on, and ere long 
will bring him into difficulties. " He that committeth 
sin," said the Lord, " is the servant of sin." The truly 
spiritual man prays, of all things, to be protected 
against his own will ; for he knows that his will is his 
proprium, and his proprium is evil. He prays to be 
guided by the Lord, in all things, great and small ; for 
then he knows that he will be led aright, and all will 
go well. We should desire to subject none to our- 
selves, but to subject ourselves to the Lord : for then 
will the Lord's will be done in us, and, so far as our 
influence extends, will "the Lord's will be done, and 
his kingdom come, on earth, as it is in heaven." 



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